Who would have thought that at the world's top-tier World Superbike Championship (WSBK), a Chinese-made motorcycle left giants like Ducati, Yamaha, and Kawasaki in the dust to take home the championship? The victory, of course, is inseparable from the years of dedication and persistence of the team owner, Zhang Xue.
But behind it lies an even more crucial force: Guangdong manufacturing. Many of the bike's key components, from its exhaust pipes and engine cylinders to the rider's helmet, are produced in Guangdong, a manufacturing powerhouse in southern China. Its more precise engine valves came from a key laboratory in Foshan after a year of dedicated R&D.
Top-tier racing is decided not just by the rider's skill, but by the extreme performance of every single part. Guangdong's capability stems from its position as one of China's most concentrated and mature hubs for motorcycle manufacturing.
Five of China's top ten fuel motorcycle manufacturers are based in Guangdong, accounting for over 30% of national sales. For every five motorcycles China exports, one comes from Jiangmen city alone. The region boasts a top-tier industrial chain: in one 80-square-kilometre town in Jiangmen, over 300 parts suppliers are clustered, enabling the assembly of an entire motorcycle locally.
A single street in Guangzhou hosts one of the world's largest and most influential motorcycle parts markets. This victory for Zhang Xue's team is more than a racing triumph; it's a beacon highlighting the strength of Guangdong manufacturing. It shows that more and more products from Guangdong are stepping onto the global stage, actively changing the world's perception of "Made in China."
Reporter: Bai Hua
Video: Liao Mingcan, Yao Yawen
