China's major bicycle manufacturers reported strong performance in the first five months of 2021, with combined profit and revenue both registering double-digit growth, official data showed.

Bike manufacturers with annual operating revenue of over 20 million yuan (about $3.13 million) raked in 3.15 billion yuan in profits in the January-May period, up 33.1 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Their combined operating revenue rose 49.4 percent from a year ago to 83.53 billion yuan.

In the January-May period, China's output of non-electric bikes increased 33.8 percent on an annual basis to nearly 20.79 million units, while electric bike production surged 42 percent year on year to over 12.6 million units, data showed.

COVID-19 has been a boon for the industry as more people opted for two-wheelers as an alternative to public transportation and a form of safe entertainment at a time of social distancing.

China – a major bicycle manufacturer – rolled out 44.4 million non-electric bikes and 29.7 million electric bikes in 2020, up 24.3 percent and 29.7 percent year on year respectively. 

Overseas demand for bikes also surged during the period. The country exported 60.3 million bikes last year, an annual increase of 14.8 percent.

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(With input from Xinhua)