IN BRIEF
ZIV, the German bicycle industry association, published a position paper on 7 October that labels China a “systemic competitor”. It points out that China produces 70 to 80 million bicycles a year, compared with around 2 million in Germany. Arguing that the EU’s current anti-dumping duties are partly being circumvented, it calls for a study into extending them to components, and raises the idea of a “Made in Europe” label. “It is time to abandon naivety,” says its managing director, Burkhard Stork.
The timing matters. ZIV’s press release, dated Berlin, 7 October 2026, notes that Germany and France are pushing for faster measures against unfair trade practices, ahead of a meeting in Beijing for the European Trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, and a European summit the following week. The bicycle industry association, which represents German manufacturers, attaches a new position paper on China, which it describes as a “systemic competitor”, while declaring its commitment to open trade.
Bicycles: 70 to 80 million in China, around 2 million in Germany
ZIV states, citing market data, that China produces 70 to 80 million bicycles every year and is the world’s largest manufacturer, while Germany turns out around 2 million. ZIV carries a lot of weight in that second figure: it says its members made around 90% of the bicycles and e-bikes produced in Germany in 2025, and that they export 1.4 million of them a year.
The association also acknowledges a dependency: European manufacturers source heavily from China, particularly for frames and components. And the pressure is rising, it writes, first on components, then increasingly on complete bicycles.
Motors and batteries in the spotlight
ZIV attributes this pressure to Chinese industrial policy: favourable financing, tax advantages and subsidies. It relies on the European Commission, which has found that key components such as motors and batteries are partly supplied at prices that do not reflect the market. Finally, it cites the goal of the 14th five-year plan of the state-affiliated China Bicycle Association: to make the Chinese industry, by 2035, “the dominant power on the international market”.
For the association, the anti-dumping and countervailing duties already applied by the European Union play an important role, but are reaching their limits in the face of complex supply chains, and are partly being circumvented. It therefore calls for a study into extending anti-dumping measures to the component level, for technical rules to be updated and for coalitions to be built at European level. An origin label or a “Made in Europe” approach could also, it argues, highlight quality and the climate advantage.
Its managing director sums it up in the press release:
“It is time to abandon naivety. Fair competition cannot be taken for granted: it must be actively organised and preserved.”
Burkhard Stork, managing director of ZIV
The climate argument
The press release adds an environmental dimension: ZIV puts the carbon footprint of producing bicycles and e-bikes in China at 52 to 66% higher than that of European production. The 7 October press release states that the European industry thus produces “the more climate-friendly option”, without having so far gained any economic advantage from it.
