Giant to build bicycle plant on Chinese mainland

Taiwanese bicycle company Giant signed an agreement with the Kunshan government Monday to set up a subsidiary in the mainland city.

The new plant in Kunshan in Jiangsu Province will be Giant's biggest investment on the Chinese mainland, with an estimated investment of more than US$150 million.

It will manufacture high-end bicycles and electric bicycles, with annual sales eventually expected to reach 3.4 billion yuan (US$500 million).

"The new company targets the high-end market, with higher demands on bicycle quality. It will apply automated production lines to increase the added value of products," said Bonnie Tu, chairwoman of Giant.

Work on the new plant will begin in Oct. 2018, with production starting in Oct. 2019 at Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone.

Giant set up its first subsidiary in Kunshan in the early 1990s. Between January and October this year, the subsidiary produced more than 3.1 million bicycles, 213,000 electric bicycles and 164,000 bicycle frames.