Several Western countries, including the UK, say they will ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030. No country is better placed to help make this a reality than China. "The Chinese are thinking about a future where they manufacture just about every single car for the world. They're looking around saying, 'Can anybody do it better than us?'" says Mr Dunne. "Leaders in Detroit, Nagoya, Germany, UK, everywhere around the world, are shaking their heads. It's a new era, and the Chinese are feeling very confident about their prospects right now." Despite the environmental benefits, there is still suspicion about what relying on Chinese technology could bring. Britain's former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, recently called Chinese EVs "computers on wheels" that can be "controlled from Beijing". His claim that Chinese EVs could one day immobilise British cities was dismissed by BYD's executive vice-president Stella Li in a recent BBC interview. "Anyone can claim anything if they lose the game. But so what?" she said. "BYD pays for a very high standard of data security. We use local carriers for all our data. In fact we do it 10 times better than our competition." Nevertheless Sir Richard's concerns echo previous national security debates surrounding Chinese technology. This includes telecoms infrastructure maker Huawei, whose equipment was banned in several Western countries, as well as the social media app TikTok, which is prohibited on UK government devices. But for Sun Jingguo in Guangzhou, the message is simple. "I think the world should thank China for bringing this technology to the world," he laughs. "I do." Additional reporting by Theo Leggett, international business correspondent in London.