Poor boy from rural family who followed his two-wheeled passion to the top says he was just ‘playing cool’ with ‘lack of official backing’ comment
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenFran Luin BeijingPublished: 6:00pm, 8 Apr 2026The founder of the Chinese motorcycle brand ZXMOTO, Zhang Xue, has stoked controversy after saying his company did not take “a single cent” from the government.
His comments sparked accusations that Chongqing municipality in southwestern China where ZXMOTO is based, “does not support local business” and “has no eye for good stuff”.
ZXMOTO took social media by storm last week, after French rider Valentin Debise won two races in the WorldSSP class of the Superbike World Championship on its 820RR-RS model.
It was the first time a Chinese motorcycle maker reached the winners podium at this road racing series and was nationally considered an unprecedented achievement of “Made in China”.
For over a week following the win, Zhang was the most mentioned name on traditional and social media.
