HONG KONG - China plans to phase out battery-powered electric-bicycles (e-bikes) that exceed speed and weight limits published 12 years ago, a move that could force small manufacturing plants to close and cut demand for lead in the world's top consumer of the metal.
A statement posted on Tuesday on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website requires local governments, police, regional industry and commerce offices to tighten management of e-bike manufacturing plants and use by e-bikers.
China's Standardization Administration drafted new standards for e-bikes in late 2009 but later backed down after the updated requirements stirred widespread fears that more than 2,000 e-bike factories would close, affecting millions of users.
The statement on Tuesday urges local authorities to use the existing e-bike standards that were published in 1999 to regulate the manufacture and use of e-bikes.
Under those requirements, e-bikes can weigh no more than 40 kg and cannot go faster than 20 km an hour.
However, the bulk of the estimated 120 million e-bikes in China have designed capacity of 30-40 km an hour and typically carry four batteries, which by themselves weigh at least 16 to 28 kg. 
Factories whose products do not meet the standards would be asked to close, while owners of e-bikes would generally be asked to stop using e-bikes that do not meet the standards.
The statement did not provide a time frame for phasing out the existing e-bikes or for plant closures but said local authorities could set their own deadlines. It also did not say how it would enforce the phase-out or what penalties, if any, would be imposed on those who continue to use the substandard bikes.
The time frame could affect whether manufacturing plants have enough time to adjust their production of e-bikes or whether they would have to shut down.
The statement also requires users to obtain licenses, while e-bikers until now have not been subject to any licenses, including a driver's license.
Batteries for e-bikes accounted for about 20 percent of China's 3.7 million tons of refined lead consumption in 2010 with annual production of more than 17 million e-bikes, according to State-backed research company Antaike.
Reuters
