In July 2026, an investigation by CCTV reporters in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, lifted the lid on an open secret in the electric-bicycle industry: the "zero-kilometer used vehicle." These are not, in fact, unsold stock that has simply accumulated — they are brand-new vehicles for which the frame numbers and certificates of conformity have been fabricated in advance by dealers and manufacturers, to be produced on demand. The sales staff make no effort to hide it: "Not a single bike in our shop is a legitimate one."
The whole operation chains together link by link: manufacturers ship non-compliant, over-specification vehicles, yet the certificates of conformity and frame-number data that accompany them are all prepared ahead of time. Dealers exploit identity-card information gathered before the new national standard took effect to register large numbers of electric-bicycle license plates in advance — so that the plates exist before the vehicles are even manufactured. At inspection, a compliant stand-in vehicle is substituted to pass verification; at the point of sale, the high-voltage, high-power, speed-limiter-disabled non-compliant machine is what reaches the consumer.
The sharpest irony of the "zero-kilometer used vehicle" is not that the "used" vehicle has never been ridden — it is that a legal license plate can come into existence before the vehicle itself. The collapse of this checkpoint means the entire regulatory chain — production licensing, mandatory certification, vehicle registration, on-site inspection — has been systematically hollowed out.
How the Grey Chain Operates
The Taizhou investigation revealed a complete chain of grey-market profit, sustained by the unspoken coordination of three links:
Manufacturers produce compliant frame numbers and certificates of conformity, but the vehicles that actually leave the factory are over-specification — higher voltage, greater power, with the speed limiter disabled. Dealers, as the intermediary link, used the window before the new national standard took effect to collect large quantities of identity-card information and register plates in advance. The retail storefronts then hand the non-compliant vehicles to consumers as "used," completing the closed loop from production to end-point sale.
Specialty stores of multiple brands — Lüjia, Aima, Zuanbao and others — were all involved. This is not the "little trick" of a few isolated manufacturers and shops, but the "unwritten rule" observed by the majority of people in the trade.
The Formalization of Regulatory Procedure
The most pressing question in this whole affair is not "why the bikes are over-spec," but "how the plates got on in the first place."
Electric bicycles have long been subject to a real-name registration system, and a vehicle must pass verification before it can be registered and plated — this is a critical checkpoint for safeguarding road traffic safety. In actual operation, however, the checkpoint has been deliberately bypassed: advance registration replaces on-site inspection, and false information replaces the consistency of vehicle and certificate. The entire process is a mere formality.
The original intent of the new national standard was to curb excessive speed, excessive weight and aftermarket modification, and thereby reduce traffic accidents. But when national standards can be circumvented and regulatory procedures waved through at will, the rules themselves become decoration — and consumers and public safety are left to bear the greatest cost.
Ex-Post Accountability and the Deeper Problem
After the report aired, Taizhou's market regulators moved swiftly with a joint enforcement action: more than 500 production and sales outlets were inspected, 233 electric bicycles suspected of failing to meet the standard were seized, and 10 cases were opened.
The swift response deserves credit, but governing non-compliant vehicles cannot end with one news report and a few rounds of enforcement. Starting from the thread of the "zero-kilometer used vehicle," every link needs a thorough investigation — plate approval, vehicle registration, production licensing, mandatory certification — holding violators to account while also tracing back to the roots of the regulatory failure. Only when every plate can withstand inspection, every bike meets the standard, and every violator pays a price can the new national standard truly become a safety baseline that cannot be crossed.