Confucius say: Chinese-made motorcycles will rule the world.

And looking at some of the new arrivals in this country, perhaps he could be right before too long.

At the moment, if you are looking for a small-engined machine with a tried and tested design, a bike from behind the tatters of the Bamboo Curtain could save you a mint. A good example is the appearance of Kangda - the third biggest two-wheel manufacturer in China.

This big company, due to its huge home market and growing tendrils throughout the world, can claim a production might that even outstrips some of the Japanese giants.

Combined with this, the emerging manufacturing nation can also make use of buying up older, successful designs, as well as having bargain-basement labour costs and favourable tax concessions at home.

Even with the factory being burdened with all the costs of exporting to the UK - like import tax and shipping - the price you pay at your local Kangda dealer can be anything up to half that of an equivalent Japanese machine.

True, you can see on the cheaper mopeds where some money has been saved in production, but even so, they must still be a bargain.

And, of course, knowing all this, your first thoughts are the models on offer would probably be archaic. Not so.

I tried the Kangda ZS50 FS, a sweet little 50cc four-stroke that has modern, pleasing, yet no-nonsense lines.

This restricted twist-and-go automatic has most of the benefits offered by Japanese or European rivals, but costs just £995 on the road.

Push the electric start (it also has a kickstart as standby), ease it off the centre stand (it also has a side stand), and the little "teen" bike picks up smoothly, if a little slowly.

Although the engine is only allowed to get you up to a maximum 30mph, it trots along quite happily at this speed, so the drum brakes are more than adequate.

It comes in Sport Yellow, Ocean Blue metallic and Post Wine metallic liveries.

There is also a two-stroke version, the Kangda ZS50 TS, which costs £895 on the road.

One of the bigger bikes that Kangda makes is the ZS125-11 - for as little as £1,295 on the road. This little beauty was a favourite for me.

It could be that it is a virtual carbon copy of the old Suzuki GS125 - but about half the price!

Even the wheel design and graphics are the same - with one exception, the name Kangda is on the side of the tank.

The little 125cc four-stroke engine, this one produced by Zongshen, is as sweet as a nut. It is so smooth, yet buzzes happily up to about 9,000 revs.

The five-speed gearbox is just about as silky as you can get and, combined with a feather-light clutch and a useful gear position indicator tucked behind a cute nose fairing, I can't think of a better bike to pass your test on