The rise of Chinese bike brands

Voge, launched in 2018 by major Chinese manufacturer Loncin as its premium brand, hit big in 2024 with the BMW F900-derived DS900X, a Europe-wide best seller thanks to its high spec, solid performance, and sub-£9K price tag. One of the newest and largest players, QJMotor, is the powerhouse behind the revived Benelli and Morbidelli brands and has now stepped out under its own name. And that’s just the start—there are plenty more making waves. But who exactly are they? How big are these companies? When did they start, what do they produce, and what might the future hold? We’ve decided to take a deep dive into the major players and uncover all the details.

CFMoto – KTMs, quads and more

Zhejiang Chunfeng Power Co., Ltd., better known as CFMoto, was founded in 1989 in Hangzhou, China, by Lai Guoqiang, starting out as an engine supplier (and, interestingly, dabbling in yachts) before moving into producing complete machines in the early 2000s, mainly ATVs or quads. In 2011, it formed a strategic partnership with KTM, initially supplying components and later engines. This evolved into a joint venture in 2017, with CFMoto holding a 51% stake, leading to some KTMs being built and sold in China, including the 790 Adventure for global markets, and new CFMoto models using KTM technology appearing in Europe. In 2022, CFMoto entered the Moto3 world championship with a KTM-based bike. After KTM’s financial troubles and Bajaj increasing its ownership to 74.9% in November, KTM scaled back its ties with CFMoto, including ending its European distribution. In the UK, Quadzilla took over CFMoto distribution, and today CFMoto UK offers six models, from the 125NK learner naked to the 800MT-X adventure.

QJMotor – Benelli, Harleys, Morbidelli…

Among Chinese motorcycle manufacturers, QJMotor is not only the newest but also one of the largest and most influential. It’s the in-house brand of the massive Qianjiang Group, best known to riders for acquiring Benelli in 2005, and also behind Morbidelli. Last autumn, it entered the UK market under the QJMotor name through independent importers MotoGB. Founded in 1985 in Wenling, China, Qianjiang has been part of the even larger Geely group since 2016, which also owns Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus, and last year produced over 1.5 million motorcycles.

Among those production numbers are several collaborations, most notably with Harley-Davidson, whose Chinese-market X350 and X500 models are built by Qianjiang. Qianjiang’s export division, Keeway, owns Benelli and also makes lightweight bikes under its own name. In 2021, Keeway launched the MBP brand, and in 2024, following Giancarlo Morbidelli’s death, MBP acquired the rights to the historic Italian Morbidelli name. The first new Morbidelli bike was the C1002V, a 1000cc V-twin cruiser, followed by the T1002V adventure bike, which uses a modified version of the engine designed at Keeway’s design center in Pesaro, Italy—Benelli and Morbidelli’s historic home—developed in Germany and Spain, and built in China. In autumn 2025, Qianjiang also started exporting a range of bikes to Europe under its own QJMotor brand. Six models launched first, with plans to expand to around 16, and 20 dealers already signed on with more in the pipeline.

Loncin – BMW, Voge and… Honda?

Founded in 1993 as a small repair shop in Chongqing, China, Loncin Motor Company has grown into a global powerhouse, producing engines, motorcycles, and ATVs. It supplies engines to BMW, owns the premium export brand Voge (distributed in the UK by MotoGB), and operates production, distribution, and marketing facilities in Chongqing, Zhejiang, and Guangdong, with an annual capacity of 2.5 million motorcycles, 3 million engines, and 150,000 ATVs. A major turning point came in 2005 with a strategic partnership with BMW Motorrad to build engines for the G650GS, boosting Loncin’s technical expertise. This collaboration expanded to include components, the F-series twin engine (since 2017, previously made by Rotax), and full assembly of BMW’s C400X and C400GT scooters. Under these guidelines, Loncin launched Voge in 2018, using derivatives of the same engine. In 2024, the BMW F900-based DS900X became a big hit thanks to its high spec, strong performance, and sub-£9K price. Voge’s adventure lineup has since grown to include 125cc and 500cc models, with the latest, the DS625X, featuring a reverse-engineered, enlarged version of Honda’s 471cc twin from the CB500 series.

Zongshen – lightweights and Lexmoto

Zongshen is another company that started in small, humble ways. Founded by Zuo Zongshen in Chongqing in 1982 as a small motorcycle repair shop called ‘Master Zuo’, the Chinese giant now produces motorcycles, quads, generators, and engines. In 1992, Zuo expanded into manufacturing with the creation of the Zongshen company (sometimes called Zonsen). In 2007, Zongshen invested CNY300 million (around £31 million) into a new research and development center, and by 2012, it was exporting roughly 30% of its motorcycle production. These bikes are mostly smaller and less well-known than other Chinese brands, partly because Zongshen supplies companies like Lexmoto in Europe and focuses more on less developed nations globally. Even so, it still claims an annual output of over 1,000,000 motorcycles.

Zhongneng Vehicle Group – Moto Morini

Zhongneng? They’re a Chinese manufacturing giant that, since October 2018, has owned and now produces the once-legendary Italian brand Moto Morini. Known for classics like the 3 ½ Sport V-twin in the 1970s and briefly revived in the early 2000s with models like the Corsaro 1200, Moto Morini now operates much like Benelli—Italian-designed through its Milan-based design and engineering hub, but built in China. In the UK, they’ve struggled due to the lack of an established distributor, though this has recently changed with MotoGB stepping in. For now, they offer the X-Cape 700 and X-Cape 1200, with more models, including the Calibro bagger, on the way.

Hangzhou Saturn Power Technology, Benda Moto

If you haven’t come across the snappily named Hangzhou Saturn Power Technology, you’ve probably heard of its rather unfortunately named brand, Benda Moto, known for mostly cruiser-style bikes that are now being imported into the UK by MotoGB.

Benda, a standalone cruising brand launched in 2016, debuted its first models at EICMA in Milan in 2019. Since then, it has sold over a million motorcycles, mostly in China, and now boasts a line-up featuring five in-house powertrains. For 2025, it teamed up with Keeway—also behind Morbidelli and Voge—for global distribution, including its entry into the UK. With Keeway’s strong ties to MotoGB, it made sense for MotoGB to handle UK distribution, leading to the current range of three models: the Chinchilla and NapoleonBob 500s, plus the LFC700 four, with more on the way. The name Benda comes from ‘B and D Motorcycles’, though with such quirky model names, perhaps a little more branding effort wouldn’t hurt.