There's a lot of protectionism going on in China, most western manufacturers aren't allowed to sell their own cars without a Chinese company owning the majority of the partnership. Most countries don't really have rules like that, China is kinda unique.

The Chinese actually LOVE big cars. Every other European manufacturer makes long wheelbase versions of their midrange sedans for China exclusively. Space in the back is a status symbol more than comfort up front apparently. And there are a ton of big Chinese crossovers out now. I won't call them SUVs because they're not really off road capable, much like most western "SUVs" aren't these days.

Where does https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla,_Inc. say Tesla was in China first?