The cost, the technology and now the styling of the cars and branding of the companies: the latter stages in the development of the Chinese industry was on full show at the Beijing motor show, which ran this week for the first time since 2018.

When the Chinese car makers cracked brands and branding, these were always going to be the things that could really take them global and into the mainstream, rather than simply known for cost. The 2024 Beijing show could turn out to be the springboard for that.

Indeed, western car makers at Beijing were in turn talking up the strength of their own brands as for how they can continue to have an edge and stay ahead.

The show was squeezed into eight halls at a convention centre in the north east of Beijing’s still-expanding metropolis (I swear that tower block has an extra storey on two on it than when we drove past yesterday…) and provided a striking insight into just how far China’s domestic industry has developed and the obvious...