BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Union's decision to lift the dumping duty rate on Chinese-made bicycles to 48.5 percent will lead to the gradual decrease of China's bicycle export, Zhang Peisheng, secretary general of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, was quoted by the Beijing News on Tuesday as saying.

    Since 1992 the EU had imposed dumping duties on imports of bicycles from China at the rate of 30.6 percent, limiting China's annual bicycle exports to the EU to within 3 million.

    The dumping duty period was expected to end by July this year, but to most Chinese bicycle manufacturer's surprise, the EU unilaterally decided to lift the dumping duty rate to 48.5 percent for another time span of five years, according to the Beijing News.

    After the EU's imposing of a higher duty rate upon Chinese bicycles, China's price advantage will be further weakened, and the annual export quantity will reduce, said Zhang. Enditem