Apple is the world's top brand, according to the latest research, but 12 mainland companies have significantly increased their name recognition globally, with China Mobile becoming the first mainland company to crack the top 10 at No 9.
The dozen mainland firms, collectively dubbed 'Brand China' by consulting firm Millward Brown Optimor, which conducted the survey, accounted for 11 per cent, or an estimated US$259 billion, of the total value of the world's top 100 brands.
Apple led this year's list, ending the four-year reign of Google at No 1. The 12 mainland brands in the new study are up from seven brands last year and only two in 2006, when the BrandZ rankings were first released.
'The expanding presence of Chinese brands in the BrandZ Top 100 reflects the transformation of China from a centre for low-cost production to a nation capable of product innovation and marketing originality,' Millward Brown Optimor said.
The brand consultancy, a unit of London-based advertising and marketing firm WPP, released its sixth annual 'BrandZ Top 100' study on Sunday. It said the combined value of all the ranked brands grew 17 per cent to US$2.4 trillion, from US$2.04 trillion last year. It valued the brands by estimating their future earnings, then discounting them using a present-value calculation.
The five mainland brands that joined the top 100 this year were: 33rd-ranked China Life Insurance, Agricultural Bank of China at No 43, mainland internet industry leader Tencent Holdings' QQ social network at No 52, Ping An Insurance at No 83 and fixed-line network giant China Telecom at No 91.