Chinese motorcycles: who makes what? A guide to the brands and the groups behind them

At a dealership car park you might see a Voge, a Benelli, a QJMotor, a Keeway and a Morbidelli. Five badges, five marketing stories — and in reality only two industrial groups. The Chinese motorcycle market looks like the car industry of the 1960s: a handful of very large manufacturers, a crowd of brands, European names bought for their heritage, and "French" or "Austrian" brands whose bikes roll out of factories in Chongqing.

Knowing who is behind what is not a pub quiz. It tells you where the parts come from, how solid the money behind your warranty is, and why two bikes with different badges sometimes share the same engine. Here is the map, built from what we could verify in group communications and the specialist press.

The big groups: six names to remember

Qianjiang (QJMotor) — Benelli, Keeway, QJMotor

Qianjiang Motorcycle, based in Wenling in Zhejiang province, is one of China's oldest manufacturers (founded in 1985). Since 2016 its largest shareholder has been Geely, the car group that also owns Volvo Cars and Lotus. Qianjiang sells two-wheelers under several brands: QJMotor (its own, increasingly upmarket label), Benelli (the Pesaro marque bought in 2005), Keeway (an export brand created in Hungary in the late 1990s) and QJiang at home.

In practice, a Benelli TRK 502 and a QJMotor SRT 550 share a large technical base, and the spec sheets of the two catalogues often overlap. Qianjiang also builds for others: the Harley-Davidson X350 and X500 sold in Asia are produced by Qianjiang under a partnership announced in 2019.

Loncin — Voge

Loncin, based in Chongqing, is an engine maker before it is a brand. It has built for BMW Motorrad since 2005: first the G 650 singles, today the parallel twins of the F 750 GS, F 850 GS, F 900 R and F 900 XR and the single of the C 400 scooters. Final assembly of those BMWs takes place in Berlin. Voge is the premium brand Loncin created in 2018 for export: 300, 525, 625, 900 DSX.

A recent fact worth knowing: in 2024 Zongshen announced it was taking control of Loncin. By late 2025 a Zongshen subsidiary was confirmed as Loncin Motor's controlling shareholder with 24.55% of the capital. The two Chongqing neighbours — long-time rivals — are now linked by ownership. Nothing has changed yet in how Voge is distributed in Europe.

Zongshen — Cyclone and contract manufacturing

Zongshen is the other Chongqing giant. Its flagship brand in China is Cyclone (Cyclone RX for the adventure bikes), barely sold in Europe. Zongshen is above all a contract manufacturer and industrial partner: engines and complete bikes for foreign brands, a long-standing scooter joint venture with Piaggio in China, production for European entry-level brands. If you buy a cheap "European" motorcycle, there is a real chance a Zongshen, Loncin or Shineray line is behind it.

CFMoto — KTM's partner

CFMoto (Zhejiang Chunfeng Power, Hangzhou) is the best-known case. The KTM partnership started in the early 2010s with CFMoto distributing KTM in China, then an industrial joint venture in Hangzhou that builds mid-size KTMs, notably the 790 Duke. In return, CFMoto's 800 MT and 800 NK use a 799 cc twin derived from KTM's LC8c.

Guangdong Tayo — Zontes

Zontes belongs to Guangdong Tayo Motorcycle Technology, founded in 2003 in Jiangmen. It designs its own engines (125 and 350 cc singles, and more recently a triple of around 700 cc) and is generous with standard equipment — full LED lighting, keyless ignition, TFT screens — which explains its success in the 125 class. In France Zontes is imported by GD France, like CFMoto.

Kove (formerly Colove) — and ZXMoto

Kove Moto, long sold as Colove, was co-founded in 2017 by Zhang Xue and two partners. The brand made its name with the 450 Rally and its Dakar entries from 2023. Zhang Xue left Kove in March 2024 and founded ZXMoto, which reaches France through the Marseille importer DIP. Two brands, one origin: don't mix them up when you search for parts.

Haojue, Lifan and the rest

• Haojue (Dachangjiang group, Jiangmen) is China's biggest producer by volume and shares a joint venture with Suzuki (Changzhou Haojue Suzuki). Rarely sold under its own name in western Europe.
• Lifan, the star of the 2000s, came close to bankruptcy and was restructured with Geely's backing from 2020, now focused on electric cars. Parts for older Lifans are getting hard to find.
• Shineray (Chongqing) owns SWM (an Italian name revived in 2014, assembled near Milan) and builds the bikes of the French brand Mash.
• Zhongneng has owned Moto Morini since 2018.

"European" brands built in China

So "European brand" says nothing about the factory. That doesn't make it a bad bike — it means parts travel the same route as for a Chinese bike, with the same possible lead times.

The summary table: brand → group → engines → network

Importers differ from country to country and can change: in the UK, for example, several of these brands have their own distributors. Always check the importer's name on the brand's official site before buying — that company handles your warranty and your parts.

Why it matters when you buy

Parts

An importer carrying five brands from the same group often stocks shared part numbers. Conversely, an isolated brand at a small importer can leave owners stranded if the importer folds — which happened to several Chinese brands in the 2010s. We go deeper in parts, warranty and dealer network for Chinese motorcycles.

Financial strength

Behind CFMoto, Qianjiang/Geely or Loncin/Zongshen are industrial groups producing hundreds of thousands of two-wheelers a year and listed on Chinese stock exchanges. The risk is not that the manufacturer disappears; it is that the local importer changes, as happened with KTM and CFMoto in several countries.

The numbers

The market confirms it: in the first half of 2025 CFMoto registered 3,025 motorcycles in France (+129.7%) and Zontes 1,772 (+20.4%), according to figures reported by the French motorcycle press. In April 2025 CFMoto passed 1,000 monthly registrations in France for the first time. These are no longer niche brands.

Key takeaways

• Two hubs in Chongqing (Loncin/Zongshen, Shineray) and two in Zhejiang (Qianjiang/Geely, CFMoto), plus Guangdong Tayo and Kove.
• One platform can wear three badges: compare spec sheets before paying for a name.
• The links with established makers (KTM, BMW, Harley, Suzuki) are real but partial: a KTM-derived engine in an 800 doesn't mean the whole range benefits.

For brand-by-brand reliability, read our overview of Chinese motorcycle reliability, then the model guides: CFMoto 450 MT, Voge 525 DSX, Zontes 350. And if you're torn with a Japanese bike, the full sum is in Chinese or Japanese: total cost and resale.

---

Already own a Chinese motorcycle and wondering what it's worth at resale, brand and network included? Value your bike in two minutes with L'Atelier's valuation tool.