Zhang Xue's motorcycle reaches the top of the world-class competition: the financial "code" behind the scenes

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Recently, Chongqing Zhangxue Motorcycle Industrial Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhangxue Motorcycle”) won the double-round championship in the Portuguese leg of the World Superbike Championship (WSBK), achieving a historic breakthrough for Chinese motorcycle manufacturers in WSBK events and drawing widespread attention.

In the spotlight, this is a “grassroots” company that was founded only two years ago and once even struggled to pay wages; behind the halo, it is a story of a repair apprentice’s comeback driven by “passion”—and also a vivid example of local governments supporting industrial development, using financial capital to precisely irrigate hard technology, and letting patient capital accompany a company’s growth.

“Betting” when nobody was paying attention

Zhangxue Motorcycle was founded in April 2024, and its rise began with an obsession with technology. To overcome the barriers of core technology, the company invested nearly 70 million yuan in R&D expenses and, at one point, had to bear the loss pressure brought by technological innovation.

Under traditional financial logic, this is actually an “unappealing set of statements”; for most venture capital (VC) institutions, such small early-stage startups are not a good project either. However, Zhejiang Chuangtou Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhejiang Chuangtou”) in the course of the company’s persistence was able to keenly capture its potential for future development.

Zhejiang Chuangtou understands how precious it is to innovate with hard-core technology. It plays the leading role of state-owned capital, efficiently pools industrial funds and government resources, and completed leading investment in Zhangxue Motorcycle’s Series A financing in January 2026, with investment funds of 90 million yuan; after the investment, the company’s post-investment valuation reached 1.09 billion yuan. It is understood that this round of financing fully supports the company’s high proportion of R&D investment and integrated capacity expansion, becoming a key boost for the company’s development. In its annual plan, Zhangxue Motorcycle sets its 2026 R&D budget at 135 million yuan and plans to launch 7 new models within the year to target 60,000 units in annual sales.

At present, venture capital is being placed in an increasingly important position. In this year’s Government Work Report, it is mentioned that we should make efficient use of the national venture capital guidance fund, vigorously develop venture capital and angel investment; government investment funds should take the lead in acting as patient capital, pushing more early-stage startups to grow faster into technology-led enterprises.

Zeng Gang, Chief Expert and Director of the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, said to reporters from China Securities Journal that the value of VC institutions is first reflected in discovering the right tracks and taking on risk. VC not only provides capital; more importantly, it provides value-added services such as connecting industrial resources and expanding market channels. This is crucial for early-stage companies to make up for management shortcomings. Behind Zhejiang Chuangtou’s “hit” on Zhangxue Motorcycle are its precise judgment of the industrial track, in-depth research into the company’s founder Zhang Xue, and its grasp of global trends in the motorcycle industry.

Zhejiang Chuangtou said that Zhangxue Motorcycle’s championship is the best return for “long-termism.” From “manufacturing” to “creation,” Zhangxue Motorcycle’s path to break through is a microcosm of the rise of China’s intelligent manufacturing. Zhejiang Chuangtou will always adhere to “invest early, invest small, invest in hard technology,” using patient capital to support craftsmen’s original intent, and using the strength of state-owned capital to help every Chinese intelligent-manufacturing dream bloom into reality.

“Passing the baton” while climbing steep slopes and crossing rough terrain

Zhejiang Chuangtou’s decisive “bet” at a critical time provided key support for Zhangxue Motorcycle’s development. However, from R&D to mass production, and to risk assurance, the financial services the company needs must be more diverse—at this time, the “baton” of financial support is handed to institutions such as banks and insurance companies.

For early-stage companies, cumbersome financial procedures are a burden. Minsheng Bank’s Chongqing branch assigned dedicated personnel to the company during the early start-up stage, efficiently establishing the basic corporate deposit account, actively waiving transfer fees, and simultaneously providing full-cycle financial services such as daily settlement, employee account opening, and salary disbursement.

Focusing on the full-cycle capital needs for building the Zhangxue Motorcycle industrial park, equipment procurement, and R&D innovation, the Bank of China’s Chongqing branch provides step-by-step, end-to-end credit support for Zhangxue Motorcycle. Relevant personnel from the Bank of China’s Chongqing branch told reporters from China Securities Journal that in December 2025, the bank issued the company’s first tranche of a 10 million yuan loan, precisely easing the company’s funding difficulties at the early start-and-growth stage; in February 2026, as the lead bank of a syndicate, it provided more than 240 million yuan in credit support, earmarked for project construction, equipment upgrades, and business turnover, helping the company improve R&D and production supporting arrangements and enhance its ability to independently supply core components.

Relevant personnel from China CITIC Bank’s Chongqing branch told reporters from China Securities Journal that, targeting core pain points such as Zhangxue Motorcycle’s short founding time, the fact that operating data has not yet formed stable accumulation, the pressure on payment cycles faced by upstream core components suppliers, and the urgent need for R&D and production funding, the bank tailored an exclusive supply-chain financing solution for the company. It rolled out the “Xin e Chain” financial product to precisely match the company’s core funding needs for daily production and operations. Within a relatively short period, it successfully enabled the company to land 10 million yuan of dedicated supply-chain financing, driving coordinated development across the entire industrial chain.

The involvement of insurance institutions fills the gap in the company’s risk assurance. It was learned that, for high-risk positions such as test drivers and inspection workers, the Taibao Property & Casualty Insurance Chongqing Branch specially tailored employer’s liability insurance for Zhangxue Motorcycle, cumulatively providing more than 10 million yuan in risk protection, precisely filling the shortfall in employer compensation liability beyond work injury insurance.

Relevant personnel from Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance’s Chongqing branch told reporters from China Securities Journal that in November 2025, the company underwrote Zhangxue Motorcycle’s corporate property insurance, with a coverage amount of over 66 million yuan, comprehensively strengthening the company’s line of defense for property safety.

From point-by-point support to coordinated services across the industrial chain, from credit to insurance, the coordinated handoff of diverse financial instruments allows Zhangxue Motorcycle not only to “stand up” during the process of climbing steep slopes and crossing rough terrain, but also to “run.”

“VC looks at the track, banks look at cash flow, and insurers look at risk control. The professional dimensions of these three types of institutions differ, but they all revolve around the core goal of the company’s survival and development. Compared with a single large-amount financing, this multi-layered financial support system can better ensure a company passes smoothly through the early-stage risk period, and it also better aligns with the stage-based financing needs of innovative companies.” Zeng Gang said.

“Targeted policies” under policy guidance

One tree does not make a forest. Zhangxue Motorcycle’s championship is a snapshot of the overall upgrade of Chongqing’s motorcycle industry, and it is inseparable from strong policy support. Zhangxue himself said on a social platform that Chongqing has the richest supporting resources for motorcycles, and precisely because Chongqing has good “soil,” Zhangxue Motorcycle could achieve today’s results within two years.

As “China’s Motorcycle Capital,” Chongqing’s 2025 motorcycle production reached 7.857 million units, accounting for 35.5% of the country’s total output; exports were 6.109 million units. High-end motorcycles have also been included as key featured advantageous industries in Chongqing’s “33618” modern manufacturing cluster, and the entire city is relying on a complete industrial chain to comprehensively push the motorcycle industry toward high-end, electrified, and intelligent development.

The Chongqing Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Regulatory Administration closely focuses on the deployment for building Chongqing’s “33618” modern manufacturing cluster. It treats the high-end motorcycle industry as a key area for financial support, takes the lead in building a precise and efficient financial services system, guides banking and insurance institutions across the city to work toward the same goal, and fully promotes upgrading and iteration of the motorcycle industry and brands “going global.”

It is learned that, at present, the outstanding loan balance for the motorcycle industry at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s Chongqing branch has exceeded 3.5 billion yuan, serving more than 600 companies of enterprises within the motorcycle industry cluster; and the Chongqing branch of Xingye Bank issued the “Motorcycle Industry Marketing Guidance Plan,” cumulatively disbursing 1.36 billion yuan over the past two years to support enterprises along the motorcycle industry chain.

The government’s industrial planning, the building of featured industries, the guidance and support of financial regulatory departments, and the sustained irrigation by financial capital provide fertile ground for enterprises like Zhangxue Motorcycle to realize their dreams.

When discussing how future financial support can truly achieve deep alignment with industrial laws and companies’ life cycles, Zeng Gang suggested advancing from four aspects: first, reform the performance evaluation mechanism. Establish an evaluation system centered on “investment success rate and average returns” rather than “returns of a single project,” and allow state-owned capital venture capital to tolerate strategic losses for hard-tech enterprises. Second, innovate financial products. Develop combination-based financing products matched to companies’ life cycles. In the early stage, focus mainly on equity financing (to accommodate high risk); in the mid stage, use debt financing as a supplement (to lower financing costs); and in the growth stage, introduce M&A funds and industrial funds. Third, information-sharing mechanisms. Establish a data interconnection platform for “industry—finance,” so financial institutions can assess industrial prospects more accurately rather than basing their judgments on companies’ short-term financial statements. Fourth, risk-sharing mechanisms. A tiered risk assumption system among “government—insurance—venture capital—banks” lets banks participate in support for high-risk areas while not having to bear excessive risk.

(Source: China Securities Journal)

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