BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese electric two-wheelers are arriving in Southeast Asian countries to meet the growing demand for electric mobility amid rising fuel prices.
China's exports of electric motorcycles and bicycles increased 18.1 percent year on year in 2025, customs data show. As geopolitical conflicts raised international oil prices, market analysts believe the transition from traditional-fuel motorcycles to electric two-wheelers in markets like Southeast Asia would be accelerated.
The cumulative global shipments of smart electric scooters and motorcycles of Chinese Segway-Ninebot have exceeded 10 million units.
There's great room to replace fuel-powered models in Southeast Asia, said Wang Ye, CEO of Segway-Ninebot, noting that the current penetration rate of electric two-wheelers is only about 5 percent there.
Vietnam is a typical example of this trend. Figures from Motorcycles Data show sales of new electric motorcycles in the country surged 99.2 percent year on year in the first half of 2025 to 209,000 units, making it the world's third-largest electric motorcycle market, according to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).
Policy support has contributed to this growth. Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, plans to gradually stop the use of fuel motorcycles in central urban district starting from July 2026, while Ho Chi Minh City has set a target to transition some 400,000 ride-hailing gasoline motorcycles to electric vehicles by the end of 2029, the VNA reported.
Chinese two-wheeler companies are beefing up investments to tap into this potential. AIMA has set up production bases in Vietnam and Indonesia and is building its own-brand sales channels.
Yadea is pursuing a similar strategy, investing in large manufacturing bases in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand.
TAILG Technology Group, a Chinese electric two-wheeler maker based in Jiangsu Province, said in its prospectus that the overseas electric micromobility vehicles market has maintained strong growth, with electric two-wheelers as the primary driver.
Supported by global carbon-neutrality targets, policy incentives across major regions and rising environmental awareness among consumers, total overseas market size of electric two-wheelers is expected to reach approximately 337.4 billion yuan (about 48.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2029, the prospectus said. ■
