If you plan on investing in Chinese brands and manufacturers, then you will need to know which are the most valuable Chinese brands this year.
China has more than 1.3 billion consumers, that's a quarter of the world's population which means a lot of money. They are the second largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).
In fact, the market value of the most valuable Chinese brands grew by 57% in 2021 which is roughly $1.56 trillion USD as compared to the year 2020 which was only $996 billion USD.
Today I'm going to talk about the most valuable and powerful Chinese brands. This list has a lot of newcomers to the market so be prepared to come across a few names that you may not have heard.
Check it out!
ICBC
CCB
ABC
Bank of China
China Merchants Bank
Huawei
Tencent Holdings
Baidu
Sinopharm
Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals
S.P.H
TaoBao
Alibaba.com
JD.com
TokTok
Bilibili
37 Games
State Grid
Evergrande
S.P.H
CRECG
CRCC
CSCEC
CNBM
Best Chinese Brands
Alibaba Group:
Alibaba is a multinational conglomerate known for its e-commerce, retail, and technology services. It operates platforms such as Taobao, Tmall, and Alibaba.com, and has a significant presence in cloud computing, digital media, and entertainment.
JD.com (Jingdong):
JD.com is one of the largest e-commerce platforms in China. It is known for its commitment to quality control and speedy delivery. JD.com also operates in logistics, technology, and various retail categories.
Xiaomi:
Xiaomi is a consumer electronics and mobile company. It is known for producing smartphones, smart home devices, fitness trackers, and other consumer electronics at affordable prices, emphasizing innovation.
Tencent:
Tencent is a leading technology conglomerate with a strong presence in social media, gaming, entertainment, and various online services. It owns platforms like WeChat, QQ, and has significant investments in gaming companies worldwide.
Baidu:
Baidu is a major Chinese technology company known for its search engine services. It has expanded into areas such as autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, and online-to-offline services.
Haier:
Haier is a multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company. It is one of the world's largest appliance manufacturers, producing a wide range of products including refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners.
BYD:
BYD is a leading Chinese automaker and electric vehicle manufacturer. Beyond automobiles, BYD is involved in the production of batteries, energy storage solutions, and renewable energy projects.
Lenovo:
Lenovo is a multinational technology company that designs, manufactures, and sells computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices. It is one of the world's largest personal computer vendors.
Meituan Dianping:
Meituan Dianping is a platform that provides a range of services including food delivery, hotel and travel booking, and various lifestyle services. It is a major player in China's online-to-offline (O2O) service sector.
Huawei:
Huawei is a global technology company specializing in telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics. It is a major player in the smartphone market and has made significant contributions to 5G technology development.
Banking
Banking brands in China make up a good chunk of the top 100 brands, holding 22 percent of the total brand value compared to only 6 percent from firms in other industries. It’s no surprise considering that Chinese banks have been more resilient than their global counterparts across sectors.
That’s thanks to the fact that China has been handling its own business such as asset management, wealth management, and inter-banking payments, as well as ramping up investments into digitalization over the past few years.
Though there’s been a 10% drop in brand value to 72.8 billion dollars, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has maintained its hold as the most valuable bank brand in China and has marked the 3rd spot on a global scale.
As the largest bank in China, they have managed to do well with Chinese citizens despite a drop in brand value thanks to the fall out of its investments that stemmed from depreciating global interest rates.
It’s important for Chinese citizens to figure out how best to rebuild their savings for future generations because now is an uncertain time for banks everywhere!
For example, China Construction bank (CCB) dropped 5% in 2021 down to 9.6 billion USD and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) managed to plummet by 3% to 53.1 billion USD. Two other major banks, the Bank of China and China Merchants Bank also had to deal with a drop in value by 4% and 8% respectively.
| Brand | Net Value | Growth 2020-2021 |
| ICBC | 72.8 billion USD | -10% |
| CCB | 59.6 billion USD | -5% |
| ABC | 53.1 billion USD | -3% |
| Bank of China | 48.7 billion USD | -4% |
| China Merchants Bank | 21 billion USD | -8% |
Tech
China’s tech industry has been growing at a pace like never before with a number of brands such as Xiaomi, Lenovo, Tencent, Huawei and even Baidu making the top 100.
Huawei continues to retain the second spot as the most valuable tech brand to invest in 2022. They are up to 71.2 billion USD this year and saw its highest growth despite the blacklist from the American market. With new changes being made and AI as a primary focus, Huawei will remain as one of the most valuable tech companies in China.
Video gaming giant Tencent Holdings surged 33.4% in the overall market amounting to 280 billion USD and search engine operator Baidu Inc increased in value by 39.2% to 42.2 billion USD.
The tech sector in China will continue to see substantial growth over the next two quarters, with new launches and futuristic products making an appearance in the market.
| Brand | Net Value | Growth 2020-2021 |
| Huawei | 71.2 billion USD | -4% |
| Tencent Holdings | 280 billion USD | +33.4% |
| Baidu | 42.2 billion USD | +39.2% |
Pharmaceutical
In what was an impressive year for the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, the increasing demand for healthcare in China has seen brand values rise by a staggering 123%.
The sector’s brands have successfully responded to the nation’s health emergency, with new corporations and entities entering into this year’s list of the most valuable Chinese companies and making significant contributions. This means that these pharmaceutical brands have achieved solid performances across the board and will continue to see a rise in value.
China's Sinopharm is the leading brand in the world and is worth a massive 3.2 billion USD , but only recently developed China’s COVID-19 vaccine, which although costing less than other top vaccines, has a high efficacy rate. This product has had over two million doses delivered since the start of the pandemic, and the brand is targeting an even bigger market share this year.
Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals and S.P.H are named the second and third most valuable pharma brands in China with an increase of 74% to 1.5 billion USD and 50% to 1.4 billion USD respectively.
| Brand | Net Value | Growth 2020-2021 |
| Sinopharm | 3.2 billion USD | +58% |
| Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals | 1.5 billion USD | +74% |
| S.P.H | 1.4 billion USD | +50% |
E-Commerce/Shopping
Retail, online supermarkets in particular, were a resounding success over the second and third quarters of last fiscal year. Massive demand caused by the pandemic has allowed brands to experience unprecedented growth in revenue as consumers resorted to online means of shopping.
The retail sector is regularly fast-paced and dynamic and today a total of 17 brands make up 10% of China’s overall economy. Currently, e-Commerce and retail share the fourth spot with an annual growth of 54% when compared to 2020.
The top four e-commerce brands in China; Taobao, Tmall, Alibaba.com and JD.com, all saw positive brand value growth over the last year. The industry's leading platform, Taobao (worth 53.3 billion USD), has broken into the top 10 list for the first time since its inception following a 44% quarter-on-quarter growth in its overall value.
Alibaba.com’s brand value has been boosted by a staggering 108% to 39.2 billion USD, simultaneously propelling the brand from 22nd to 13th – spot on the list of the most valuable Chinese brands as a result of a huge spike in demand. The story is similar for JD.com, which has witnessed an 82% increase in its value to 23.5 billion USD, following a 30% rise in its annual shopper count, which is the fastest we’ve seen it rise in over two years.
There’s no doubt that the online shopping industry will carry on to see exponential growth in the next two quarters and 2022 will easily supersede 2021 by a mile with newer brands taking the mantle.
| Brand | Net Value | Growth 2020-2021 |
| TaoBao | 53.3 billion USD | +44% |
| Alibaba.com | 39.2 billion USD | +108% |
| JD.com | 23.5 billion USD | +82% |
Media
The shift from analog to an online social life has been vital in making this possible, with millions of Chinese consumers now shifting their attention towards domestic digital media groups. Media is currently the third most valuable sector in China, with 35 brands accounting for 10% of the total brand value.
WeChat is currently the most valuable brand in all of China. This is significant as it illustrates how much people value and appreciate the importance of this social media platform and messaging app.
Douyin/TikTok is one of the latest apps to enjoy a boom in China. Basically, anyone can post and share videos or dance to whatever music they like with an audience on Douyin/TikTok. Since China’s population is so massive, that makes for an enormous market for any business trying to promote itself via video posts.
One of the major factors driving advertising revenue is how closely the app correlates data about trending topics within its community with what brands need taught inexpensively. Apart from TikTok and WeChat, other video sharing apps have seen an increase in demand and a rise in brand value.
Brands such as Bilibili and 37 Games shot up by 106% to 1.9 billion USD and by 85% to 1.4 billion USD respectively. Which is not something unexpected considering millions of individuals had time on their hands thanks to Covid restrictions and recurring lockdowns.
| Brand | Net Value | Growth 2020-2021 |
| 67.9 billion USD | +25% | |
| TokTok | 1.5 billion USD | +74% |
| Bilibili | 1.9 billion USD | +106% |
| 37 Games | 1.4 billion USD | +85% |
Infrastructure
With a boom in population and need for cleaner energy, Chinese infrastructure brands have not shown any significant dip in value and have actually managed to retain their positions on the list.
State Grid, China’s utilities giant only saw a drop of 3% overall brand value, but has retained the number 1 position as the most valuable utilities brand the world has ever seen. They are considered to be the 6th most valuable Chinese brand that helps supply power to well over 88% of China’s population.
They are heading in the right direction and have outlined a plan to support China’s clean energy drive that was kicked off by President Xi Jinping. The drive is to make China completely carbon neutral by 2060 and to replace energy from fossil fuels with solar, hydro and wind.
In terms of real estate, the field has seen a 7% increase in value as compared to last year with Evergrande leading the real estate market with a value of 20.2 billion USD, which is roughly a 2% drop in value from the previous year.
The same goes for construction brands that have seen an impressive growth of 16% collectively.
Brands such as CRECG, CRCC, CSCEC and CNBM all saw massive increase in value over 2021 with CREG (China Railway Engineering Equipment Group) up by 32% to 14.9 billion USD, CRCC (China Railway Construction Corporation) up by 21% to 15.9 billion USD, CSCEC (China State Construction Engineering Corporation) up by 22% to 30.4 billion USD and CNBM (China National Building Material) with an increase of 22% to 7.1 billion USD.
Despite the pandemic, none of these brands have shown any signs of slowing down and have been key supporters of the rise in brand value across sectors.Without infrastructure, everything would fall apart.
| Brand | Net Value | Growth 2020-2021 |
| State Grid | 55.2 billion USD | -3% |
| Evergrande | 20.2 billion USD | -2% |
| S.P.H | 1.4 billion USD | +50% |
| CRECG | 14.9 billion USD | +32% |
| CRCC | 15.9 billion USD | +21% |
| CSCEC | 30.4 billion USD | +22% |
| CNBM | 7.1 billion USD | +7% |
What are the most valuable Chinese brands?
The most valuable Chinese brands in the market as of 2022 are Tencent, Taobao, Alibaba, ICBC, Huawei, TikTok WeChat, and Sinopharm.
What is the largest brand in China?
The largest brand in China in terms of monetary growth, brand value and value of assets is Tencent holdings. It has seen a steady increase in value and only just last year did they record a rise in value of 33.4%.
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