In March, as a visiting delegation of Swedish investors and bankers passed through China’s factories and shipyards for the first time since the pandemic, what they witnessed was a shock to their systems.

Across the mainland, where Sweden’s manufacturers have a long-standing presence, competition from Chinese firms was “ferocious”, even “monstrous”, according to Mattias Sundling, chief equity strategist at Handelsbanken. “The way they have caught up and developed in just two or three years was just stunning to us,” he said. “The cliched image of Chinese competition was one of cheap copies. I think the wake-up call for us when we were on this trip is that this is no longer the case.”

From high school examinations to bubble tea franchises, intense domestic competition is pervasive across China. Now, as embodied in expanding electric-vehicle production, that sense of competition poses a growing challenge to international businesses.