Yang Yongbing is just 24 but requires near full-time care following a stroke he had two months after stopping work on the production line at a factory owned by Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD.
The company is under investigation by local authorities after claims that harmful pollutants in paint used at the plant in Changsha, the capital of China’s central Hunan province, caused symptoms in residents nearby, including nosebleeds, breathing problems and vomiting.
The probe is the latest setback for China’s EV consumer market, the world’s biggest, which is attempting to make up for production losses after months of lockdowns stalled demand and economic activity.