TAIPEI, TAIWAN - The 2014 TAIPEI CYCLE Show organized by World Trade Center Taipei crossed its finish line on March 8. In its 27th year, the Show attracted a total of 7,529 international visitors from 107 countries and areas, growing 4.9% in comparison with 2013. Visitors from China (including Hong Kong), Japan, USA, Korea, Malaysia, Germany, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, and Australia were among the top 10. Besides visitors coming from traditional main markets including Europe, USA and Japan, visitors from all over Asia came to the Show to trade, to identify and connect with partners along the supply chain, and to discover latest products and industry trends, making the Show the most important platform for international exchange in cycle industry in Asia.

 TAIPEI CYCLE, platform for worldwide exhibitors to make their product debut and build new business
Ford, the global car maker, made the debut of cross-over into folding bike in Taipei Cycle, attracting much attention from visitors and professional media all over the world. Those products on display in the TAIPEI CYCLE Show will be officially unveiled at the Ford headquarter in the US in May.
Darfon is another example of companies in other industries crossing over into the cycle industry. Representative from Darfon, said with their E-bike Panther PS1 winning TAIPEI CYCLE d&i GOLD award this year, European and American buyers flocked to their stand to make inquiries and future sales in these market looked promising.
Representative from the Portuguese crank maker, Miranda, said they had the best show result ever, comparing with other shows they had attended in Europe and America. They also confirmed their participation for the show next year and looked forward to the possibility of having larger space.

GreenTrans, 100% invested by China Motor, Mitsubishi’s Taiwan exclusive partner and 2nd largest car manufacturer in Taiwan, exhibited their latest design in motor, battery and power unit for E-bikes. These new products made E-bikes lasting longer, quieter and more comfortable to ride. Representative from GreenTrans pointed out that with a complete product line exhibiting at the Show, they looked very favorably on the growing their business in cycling industry.

 Velo City 2016 in Taipei
At the Velocity Workshop March 7, hosted jointly by the host city of Velocity 2016, Taipei, and the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), Mr. Hou, the major of Taipei City, indicated that bicycles were not only for leisure, but as an important means of green urban transport. Taipei City has promoted the public bike rental system, U-bike for the past 5 years, with customer satisfaction rating at 90%, turnover at 12 times per day, and the number of users growing from 3% to 5.5%. This system has become an icon for Taipei city, which not only characterize Taipei as a bicycle-friendly city, but also attracted representatives from Shanghai, Beijin, Tokyo and Seoul to come.
The chairman of ECF, Manfred Neun, also remarked that ECF chose Taipei as the first Asian city to host Velocity Conference, because Taiwan had 3 advantages: innovative industry cluster that made Taiwan a leader in cycling industry, general public enthusiastic about using bicycles, and strong government support.

For more information on this article, please contact Andrea Yen, WTC Taipei, at andreayen@taitra.org.tw