LONDON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese brands are increasingly becoming global and the growth of Chinese brands has become a “standout” story, David Haigh, CEO of market research firm Brand Finance, told Xinhua.
The fastest-growing brand comes from China. Wuliangye, a Chinese brand of aromatic liquor, grew a striking 161 percent year-on-year to 14.6 billion dollars, rising 184 ranks to 100th, according to the latest Brand Finance Global 500 report unveiled by the London-based market research company on Thursday.
Wuliangye’s fast growth could be attributed to its sound brand development strategy of premiumizing products with some of the less high quality products withdrawn, changing product lineup to appeal to young drinkers using lighter products, and going international by using techniques learned from western brands, according to Haigh.
"In the 19th century, Britain dominated the world manufacturing and then British brand became famous. In the 20th century, American manufacturers dominate the world, American brands dominate the world. In the 21st century, China is the center of the manufacturing universe, Chinese brands are increasingly becoming global", said Haigh.
The growth of Chinese brands continues to narrow the value gap with those of the United States at an impressive rate, according to the report. China's global brand value grew to 911.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, ranking the second with a 15 percent share following the United States of 44 percent, according to the report.
"Since 2017, there has been a renewed emphasis on brand development by Chinese companies in all sectors," said Haigh. The CEO added, "Interestingly, while China had been pursuing a dual strategy of building home-grown brands but also acquiring underperforming international brands, like Volvo and Pirelli, the emphasis is now firmly on home-grown brands. Brands like Huawei, Ping An, State Grid, Evergrande, ICBC, Yili, Haval, Wuliangye, and many others are now being recognised worldwide as quality brands. We expect to see this develop rapidly in more and more sectors."
"The Chinese government is definitely doing what it should do. The Chinese government is a very strong supporter of the whole idea of creating intellectual property," Haigh noted.
The report said Amazon is the world's most valuable brand, with its brand value increased by 42 percent year on year to a whopping 150.8 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Apple, Google, Samsung and Facebook.
Chinese technology brands also boast high brand value growth, with Alibaba (12th), Tencent (21st), WeChat (49th), Baidu (57th), JD (65th), and NetEase (121st), going up by an average of 67 percent year on year. (Contributed by Wen Xiqiang, edited by Niu Huizhe, niuhuizhe@xinhua.org)
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