China’s total brand value, worth $1 trillion, took second place in Nation Brands 2017, a report released by Brand Finance, a London-based brand consultancy firm. In 2008, only eight Chinese brands were ranked in Brand Finance Global 500, but this year there were 50, a milestone signaling a promising future for Chinese brands, People’s Daily reported on Dec 22.
Chinese brands’ era-defining leap
Over the past few years, a great surge in Chinese brands has covered the sharing economy, construction, transportation, and many other fields worldwide.
China’s bike-sharing company Mobike was hailed as one of the 50 enterprises that changed the world in 2017 by Fortune magazine. Its overseas operations have extended to 200 cities in 12 nations, with over 7 million bicycles making over 30 million rides on a daily basis.
Chinese train maker CRRC Corp holds more than a 30 percent share in the global railway transport market, with its products being widely used in 102 nations and regions, which account for 83 percent of countries that have railways. Meanwhile, it retains an over 30 percent annual growth rate in overseas contract value and turnover.
Zoomlion, one of the largest construction machinery manufacturers in China, concluded a groundbreaking accomplishment this year by leading the formulation of Part 1 (Terminology and commercial specifications) of ISO 19720-1:2017 (Building construction machinery and equipment — Plants for the preparation of concrete and mortar). This signifies Chinese enterprises have ascended to become global industrial standard makers.
The State Council marked May 10 as Chinese Brands Day, appealing to the whole society for implementation of the brand strategy and a further boost to economic restructuring and upgrading.
More Chinese brands needed in new era
Against the backdrop of an expanding community of mid-level income earners and the ongoing upgrading of consumption structure, there will be rising demand for brand consumption. Therefore, more efforts should be made to spawn brands and support their development.
In addition, as far as the economic development of other nations is concerned, sound quality is the prerequisite for brand building, hence China should set as a priority products’ quality to cultivate world-rate brands for the purpose of facilitating economic development.
Chinese brands call for innovation and craftsmanship spirit
Innovation persistently keeps up the vitality of brand development, which explains why Huawei, a global technology giant, was granted a place in the Brand Finance Global 500 for its 21.4 percent rise in value this year, as this enterprise has been allocating over 10 percent of its annual turnover to research and development over the past decade.
Stringent industrial bench marks and the retention of craftsmanship spirit can contribute to the brands’ longevity. Likewise, Geely, a Chinese automobile brand that has reinvented itself through new-energy and internet-equipped vehicles, can continue to thrive by virtue of its meticulous industrial ethos.
