Tech firms displace banks, oil companies as China’s most valuable brands
Tencent topped the list of China’s 100 most valuable brands, whose combined value grew 6 per cent to US$557.1 billion, according to a report.
The combined worth of the 100 most valuable Chinese brands expanded to hit a new high in 2017, boosted by rapid growth in the technology, travel and education sectors, according to a report published on Monday.
As a whole, the brands grew 6 per cent to a total value of US$$557.1 billion despite the mainland’s economic slowdown, said the report compiled by Kantar Millward Brown, a consumer insights research agency under the world’s largest advertising firm WPP.
The brand power - which tests consumer inclination to select a given brand - of Chinese brands for the first time has started to surpass that of multinational rival brands
Technology giant Tencent Holdings remained China’s most valuable brand, growing by 29 per cent to US$106 billion thanks to the popularity of social media platform WeChat, according to the 2017 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands.
Alibaba Group, owner of the South China Morning Post and operator of the world’s largest online shopping platforms, takes second place with a brand value of US$58 billion, up 22 per cent from a year earlier. The ranking counts Alibaba on its own, excluding its affiliate Ant Financial, which operates the electronic payments platform that for Alibaba’s online shopping.
Alibaba is closely followed by telecoms firm China Mobile with a brand value of US$57.9 billion, inching up 1 per cent year on year.
The rankings are based on the companies’ financial performance, as well as opinions gathered from interviews with more than 400,000 Chinese consumers.