Ningbo supplier powers landmark racing victory

A Chinese motorcycle brand has ended years of Japanese and European dominance in world superbike racing, with a Ningbo-based supplier playing a key role behind the breakthrough victory.

ZXMOTO claimed victory in the World Supersport category at the Portuguese round of the FIM Superbike World Championship in late March, becoming the first Chinese manufacturer to win at the sport's elite global level. The result is widely seen as a crucial moment for China's high-performance motorcycle industry, which has long operated in the shadow of established global brands.

At the heart of the 820RR-RS superbike was an ABS braking system supplied by Ningbo SAFE Brake Systems Co, which played a critical role in extreme cornering and braking conditions.

The race ended with ZXMOTO finishing more than four seconds ahead of its nearest rival, a significant gap in a field traditionally dominated by Ducati, Kawasaki, and Yamaha.

"This victory reflects the strength of the wider industrial chain behind the team," said Shan Dongsheng, general manager of SAFE Brake Systems, which has maintained a partnership with ZXMOTO for more than a decade.

The collaboration began in 2014, when both companies were still in their early stages of development. ZXMOTO needed reliable component support to build competitive machines, while SAFE was looking to validate and refine its ABS technology in demanding real-world applications.

What started as a practical alignment soon developed into a long-term engineering partnership. SAFE's ABS systems — integrating sensors, control units, actuators, and software algorithms — have since been applied across multiple motorcycle platforms associated with ZXMOTO and its related projects.

Over the past decade, SAFE has developed more than 700 ABS products and contributed to 478 mass production programs. From 2019 to 2025, it consistently ranked among the leading players in China's two-wheeler ABS segment and is now targeting recognition as a national-level manufacturing champion in its field.