On the sunlit track of southern Portugal's Portimao circuit last weekend, Chinese motorcycle brand ZXMOTO secured two straight World Supersport category wins, including one with a commanding lead of nearly 4 seconds over established global rivals, in the Portuguese round of the Superbike World Championship, also known as the WSBK.
It was a breakthrough moment for the relatively new motorcycle brand in a sport long dominated by European and Japanese giants.
Thousands of miles away in Chongqing, the brand's Chinese founder, Zhang Xue, burst into tears. He later posted on social media: "It is not about chasing a trophy. It is about loving the ride. And that, perhaps, changes everything."
Videos of the victory, along with Zhang's story, quickly went viral across Chinese social media, drawing attention far beyond the traditional motorcycling crowd.
"Motorsport is all about extreme precision and top-tier manufacturing. At this level, the machine often matters more than the rider," said Zhang Duo, senior editor at Motorcycle magazine.
"For China to win both rounds in a world championship on a domestically developed production bike — that's a first. It really shows how far Chinese manufacturing has come," the senior editor added.
ZXMOTO's French rider Valentin Debise, who rode the bike to both victories, said: "I felt from day one that this bike had something special. This result is a real team effort."
For ZXMOTO — short for Zhang Xue Motorcycle — it was more than just a race win.
Born in 1987 in a village in Hunan province, Zhang Xue fell in love with motorcycles at a young age. At 16, he took up a job at a repair shop, and by 17, he had opened his own. At 19, he chased a television crew for more than 100 kilometers in the rain just for a chance to appear on screen. The opportunity helped him land a spot on a racing team.
After co-founding Kove Motor in 2017, Zhang struck out in 2024 to build a brand bearing his name. Less than two years later, ZXMOTO stood atop a global podium.
Investor interest in ZXMOTO is building as well. Earlier this month, the company completed a Series A funding round, raising 90 million yuan and reaching a post-money valuation of about 1.09 billion yuan.
For 2026, ZXMOTO is targeting annual sales of 60,000 units and output value of 1.8 billion yuan, while nearly doubling its R&D budget to 135 million yuan.
Industry analysts said the company's rise reflects a broader shift in China's motorcycle sector.
Zhang Duo of Motorcycle magazine said that Chinese brands are no longer focused on lower-tier markets, but are competing head-to-head in developed markets such as Europe, the United States and Japan.
"Instead of competing on price, they're moving into the high-end space with better performance, more advanced technology and stronger personalization," he said. "That's hugely encouraging for the whole industry."
Zhang, the founder of the company, has set his sights even higher. "Over the next five years, our target is to secure more than 50 percent of the large-displacement market currently held by legacy international players," he said.