Taobao, Tencent and Baidu lead the technology companies that dominate China’s top 10 brands
Value of China’s top 10 brands has risen by nearly 40 per cent on the increasing strength of new economy brands
Technology companies and banks have the most valuable brands in China, as Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Taobao held onto the top spot from the company’s rivals, Tencent and Baidu, in the latest brand value rankings by Shanghai-based media and research firm, the Hurun Report.
The top 10 brands saw their total brand value rise by nearly 40 per cent, as the strength of new economy brands continued to grow.
Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings each had two brands among the 10 most valuable. Tencent’s WeChat was the mainland’s fifth most valuable, and Alibaba’s Tmall, the tenth. They were joined in the top 10 list by two of the big four banks, China Construction Bank Corp and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and insurer Ping An Insurance (Group).
In this year’s Singles' Day shopping festival, Alibaba, which also owns the South China Morning Post, saw takings across its platforms reach 168 billion yuan (US$25.3 billion).
“This year, brands belonging to science and technology and lifestyle services companies saw the greatest increase in value. From this we can see the greater influence that new economy companies are having on our lives,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report.
For example, China’s two largest bike-sharing companies, Ofo and Mobike, both entered the top 200 this year, with the brands worth US$640 million and US$450 million respectively, according to the report.
From this we can see the greater influence that new economy companies are having on our lives
They still have a way to go to catch up with the most valuable brands in China. The Taobao brand was worth US$68 billion, the Tencent brand US$53 billion, and the Baidu brand US$48 billion, the report said.
The high valuations of Ofo and Mobike’s brands were despite, or maybe because of, the string of bankruptcies that have struck the bike-sharing sector resulting in a shake-out.
