QJ Motor: How China's Largest Exporter Is Becoming a Global Brand
Photo: QJstar / Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
QJ Motor is the own-brand consumer label of Qianjiang Group - the largest motorcycle manufacturer by unit volume in China and one of the largest single-corporate motorcycle producers in the world. Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Wenling (Zhejiang Province), Qianjiang owns the Italian brand Benelli (acquired 2005) and produces approximately 1.5 million motorcycles per year across its various brands and platforms. The QJ Motor own-brand strategy has expanded rapidly since 2018, building dealer networks across Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia with mid-displacement parallel-twin platforms that are also sold under the Benelli label in premium markets.
This is the deep-dive companion to our Chinese motorcycle brands hub. The ten points below cover Qianjiang Group's history, the Benelli relationship, QJ Motor's expanding product range, and the dual-brand export strategy that has made QJ Motor the most globally relevant Chinese motorcycle volume player.
TL;DR
- Founded 1985 in Wenling, Qianjiang Group is China's largest motorcycle exporter by unit volume and the world's largest single-corporate motorcycle producer outside Honda.
- QJ Motor is the company's own-brand consumer label - the same platforms sell as QJ Motor in price-sensitive markets and as Benelli (acquired 2005) in premium European markets.
- The 2026 lineup is anchored by the 700cc parallel-twin platform (SRT 700/702 adventure, SRK 700 naked, SRG 700 sport-tourer) and an expanding 800cc range.
1. Founded 1985 in Wenling
Qianjiang Group was founded in 1985 in Wenling, Zhejiang Province, southern China. The original product was small-displacement commuter motorcycles for the Chinese domestic market. By the 1990s, Qianjiang was one of the largest Chinese motorcycle manufacturers by domestic-market unit volume. The strategic shift to export markets began in the early 2000s, with initial focus on Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia - markets where Chinese motorcycles could compete primarily on price.
Sources: QJ Motor; Wikipedia - Qianjiang Group.
2. The Benelli acquisition (2005)
In 2005, Qianjiang Group acquired the Italian motorcycle brand Benelli (founded 1911 in Pesaro). The acquisition was, at the time, surprising - Benelli's heritage and brand equity seemed misaligned with Qianjiang's volume-commuter positioning. But the strategic logic was clear: own a European premium brand label to extract higher prices from Western markets for similar underlying products, while continuing to build mass-market volume in emerging markets. Benelli design and engineering management remained Italian; manufacturing moved progressively to China.
Sources: Benelli; Wikipedia - Benelli.
3. The own-brand QJ Motor launch
QJ Motor as a standalone own-brand label launched in 2018-2019, separately from Benelli. The strategic decision was to push aggressive product development through the own-brand label, then port successful platforms to Benelli for premium pricing in Europe. The QJ Motor brand identity is more aggressive (red/black colour-ways, sportier styling, lower pricing) than the Benelli brand identity (classic Italian retro / sport-touring positioning). The same engineering platforms underlie both brands.
Sources: QJ Motor.
4. The 700cc parallel-twin platform
The most commercially important QJ Motor platform is the 693cc parallel-twin engine, developed in-house at Qianjiang's Wenling R&D centre. The platform powers the QJ Motor SRT 700 / 702 adventure (visible in the hero image), the SRK 700 naked, the SRG 700 sport-tourer, and is exported globally as the Benelli TRK 702, Benelli 752S, and Benelli Leoncino 700. The 700cc platform is genuinely competitive with the Royal Enfield 650 twins, the Yamaha XSR700, and the Triumph Trident 660 - particularly on price-spec value.
Sources: QJ Motor.
5. The 800cc and 1000cc expansion
QJ Motor has expanded into 800cc and 1000cc displacement classes through the early 2020s, with the SRT 800 adventure, the SRK 800 naked, and the new 1000cc platform launched 2024-2025. The larger-displacement bikes target the premium European segment more directly - competing with BMW F 900, KTM 890 Adventure, Honda CB1000 Hornet, and Yamaha MT-09. The engineering and build quality of the 800/1000cc platforms reflects substantial R&D investment relative to QJ Motor's earlier product generations.
Sources: QJ Motor.
6. The dual-brand export strategy
The dual-brand export strategy is Qianjiang Group's defining commercial choice. The same engineering platform sells as a QJ Motor product in Latin America, Brazil, India (where QJ Motor competes against Royal Enfield), and Southeast Asia at competitive Chinese-brand pricing. The same platform sells as a Benelli product in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the UK at premium European-brand pricing. The pricing differential is typically 20-30% between the two brand labels. Buyers may not realise that their Italian-badged Benelli TRK 702 is the same underlying motorcycle as the QJ Motor SRT 700 selling for substantially less in Mexico or Indonesia.
7. Wenling manufacturing - the volume scale
Qianjiang's Wenling manufacturing complex is among the largest single motorcycle production facilities in the world by unit output, building approximately 1.5 million motorcycles per year across all QJ Motor, Benelli, and licensed-manufacturing programmes. The facility has gone through substantial modernisation through 2018-2024, with automated assembly lines, robotic welding, and quality-control automation now comparable to Japanese or European production standards. The volume scale gives Qianjiang the per-unit cost advantage that underlies the dual-brand pricing strategy.
Sources: QJ Motor; Wikipedia - Qianjiang Group.
8. European market positioning
In the European market, QJ Motor and Benelli operate as parallel rather than overlapping brands. Benelli has substantially older dealer-network presence (the brand has been sold in Europe since 1911 and even after the Chinese acquisition, retained its Italian dealer relationships). QJ Motor has been entering Europe more recently and aggressively through 2023-2025, with Italian and Spanish markets the largest European QJ Motor volumes. The brand strategy explicitly avoids cannibalising Benelli sales - the QJ Motor pricing typically sits substantially below Benelli equivalent products to target different buyer segments.
Sources: QJ Motor.
9. The Harley-Davidson partnership (X350 / X500)
An under-reported aspect of Qianjiang's global footprint is the Harley-Davidson partnership. Qianjiang manufactures the Harley-Davidson X350 and X500 small-displacement motorcycles - Harley's accessible-segment entry into emerging markets. The bikes use Qianjiang engineering and manufacturing under Harley-Davidson branding, parallel to how Bajaj manufactures Harley-Davidson X440 in India. The X350/X500 programme has been less commercially successful than initially planned, but it establishes Qianjiang's role as an important Western-brand manufacturing partner alongside Bajaj.
Sources: Harley-Davidson; QJ Motor.
10. What QJ Motor means for the global industry
QJ Motor in 2026 is the proof-of-concept for Chinese-scale-meets-Italian-brand product strategy. Unlike CFMoto (which leans on the KTM engineering partnership) or Zontes (which builds an independent Chinese brand identity), QJ Motor uses the dual-brand strategy to operate in both price-sensitive emerging markets and premium European segments simultaneously. The Benelli label gives European premium pricing access; the QJ Motor label gives volume scale; the Wenling manufacturing facility gives per-unit cost discipline. The combination is hard for other Chinese brands to replicate because it requires owning a credible European premium brand - and there are very few of those left to acquire.
Forty-one years after founding, Qianjiang Group is the Chinese motorcycle manufacturer with the most globally diversified product strategy. The QJ Motor own-brand sells to emerging markets at competitive Chinese-brand pricing. The Benelli brand sells to premium European markets at heritage-brand pricing. The Wenling factory produces the volume that underwrites both ends. And the Harley-Davidson X350/X500 partnership demonstrates that Qianjiang can deliver Western-brand-quality manufacturing on commission. No other Chinese motorcycle company operates at this strategic complexity, and the model is likely to remain the standard for how the most ambitious Chinese motorcycle brands engage with global markets.
Useful Goutchen links
- 10 Chinese Motorcycle Brands You Should Know - the hub post.
- 10 Italian Motorcycle Brands You Should Know - Benelli is also covered there as an Italian brand.
