Two decades ago, Zhang Xue was filmed chasing a TV crew's van on a beaten-up motorcycle in a desperate attempt to persuade them to feature him on their show.Fast forward to today, and he's now a household name after a motorcycle made by his company, ZXMOTO, secured stunning victories in the world's premier superbike competition in March.Rider Valentin Debise won the World Supersport category at the Portuguese round of the Superbike World Championship with an impressive lead of nearly four seconds.In a sport where victories are typically decided by mere milliseconds, such a margin is exceptionally rare. And the following day, the same motorcycle clinched a second victory! Zhang Xue is known for the motorcycle made by his company, ZXMOTOZhang Xue, founder of Chinese motorcycle manufacturer ZXMOTO, is interviewed at the factory building of ZXMOTO in Liangjiang New Area, southwest China's Chongqing, April 1, 2026The triumph sent shockwaves through the industry and thrust ZXMOTO into the spotlight, despite the company having remained relatively obscure since Zhang founded it in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing in 2024.They've also drawn attention to his remarkable personal journey from repair-shop apprentice to the owner of a 750-million-yuan (£83 million) business - while highlighting the growing strength of China's high-end manufacturing sector.A dream that began in a repair shop Zhang was born in 1987 in a remote mountain village in Hunan Province, central China. He grew up in modest circumstances, with videos showing him visiting his grandmother in a mud-brick home with a leaking roof.He rode a motorbike for the first time aged 14, kick-starting a lifelong passion. After dropping out of school at 16, Zhang became an apprentice at a motorbike repair shop. Working day in, day out, he gained an intuitive understanding of how the machines worked through hands-on experience, rather than textbooks. French rider Valentin Debise (R) and Italian rider Federico Caricasulo (L) pose with Zhang Xue (C), brand founder and owner of Chinese motorcycle manufacturer ZXMOTO, at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Australia, February 20, 2026 By 2006, when Chinese talent show Super Girl was at its peak, Zhang spotted an opportunity and repeatedly pestered a local television crew for a chance to show off his motorcycle stunts.They eventually agreed to film him but had to call off the shoot after a downpour turned the roads to mud.When the crew left for another assignment, Zhang hopped on his motorcycle and chased their van through the rain for more than 62 miles. Impressed by his grit, the crew gave him another chance and filmed him performing a variety of stunts, including wheelies, riding while lying down, and 'big air' jumps off ramps.Each time he fell, he got back up, telling the camera: 'This little bit of pain? It's nothing.' Zhang Xue test-drives a motorcycle at Zhuhai International Circuit in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, on January 16, 2025 It worked. After the segment appeared on TV, Zhang took his first steps in the racing world, working both as a rider and a mechanic.But he eventually decided he didn't have the potential to become a top-tier rider, so pivoted into engineering and motorcycle development instead.'If I couldn't ride the fastest bike, then I'd build one,' he recalled in an interview with Xinhua.World-beating engineering The Portuguese round of the Superbike World Championship features production motorcycles that have been highly modified to achieve peak performance.This means the race isn't just a contest between different riders, but also a show of manufacturing strength. As such, it suggests China is closing the gap in high-performance engineering faster than many had anticipated.The motorbike that Zhang put forward, the ZXMOTO 820RR-RS, features an 819 cc inline three-cylinder engine that can go from 0–100 km/h in just 2.81 seconds. The engine, frame, and electronic controls are built in-house from 100 per cent Chinese components.Zhang describes how the team who made the engine has gone about urging their suppliers to constantly improve their standards.'At first, our suppliers were very reluctant, I convinced them by saying that I would personally cover all the costs incurred from the trials.'But if the trials succeeded, everyone would benefit. That gave them the motivation to experiment with me.'The process of finding suppliers who were willing to be adaptable and innovative was made easier by Chongqing's thriving motorcycle industry.Today, the city - which Zhang moved to in 2013 - is home to more than 40 whole-motorbike manufacturers and over 400 component companies.The intensive concentration of suppliers speeds up the time it takes start-ups to go through the development process, from R&D prototyping to mass production - drastically reducing the cost and time of trial and error.China is the world's largest motorcycle producer, with the entire industry valued at nearly 500 billion yuan (£56 billion).Last year, production and sales increased to more than 22.1 million units and nearly 21.97 million units respectively, according to the China Chamber of Commerce for Motorcycle. Staff members conduct inspections on motorcycles at the production workshop of ZXMOTO in Liangjiang New Area, southwest China's Chongqing, April 1, 2026 ZXMOTO's success is even more remarkable given Zhang only launched the company in 2024 - seven years after co-founding another high-performance motorcycle brand, KOVE MOTO.The company's total output value reached 750 million yuan (£83 million) in 2025, with nearly 70 million yuan (£8 million) invested in research and development.One Beijing-based motorcycle enthusiast said many opt for Zhang's motorcycles out of admiration for his can-do spirit, while others value them for delivering high-performance models for a fraction of the usual market price.When asked in a television interview what sets Chinese motorbikes apart from global brands, Zhang said it was 'high efficiency and low costs'.He added: 'The overall manufacturing capacity rivals that of Europe and Japan.'Their strength lies in accumulated experience. We're still catching up and learning through trial and error.'As admirers laud him for fulfilling his youthful ambitions, a quote Zhang gave as a 19-year-old has gone viral.'Whether you fail or succeed - if you don't go for it when you're young, you'll definitely regret it when you're old.' Original story by Tian Ying and Li Hualing