Apple rules but world starts recognizing Chinese brands

Apple may now be the brand most people in the world recognize but it's the rapid rise of Chinese companies that is really turning heads.

There are now 12 mainland Chinese brands in the 100 "most recognized'' in the world, according to the annual list released by the global consultancy firm Millward Brown Optimor  - whereas there were just two when the list was first released back in 2006.

So impressive has the change in stature been that the company has labeled the trend the rise of "Brand China'' - and claimed that the 12 listed account for an estimated US$259 billion, or 11 percent of the total value of the world's top 100 brands.

The report - "BrandZ Top 100" ( http://www.millwardbrown.com/BrandZ/Default.aspx) - was released on Sunday and saw Apple for the first time in four years knock Google off its perch as the world's most recognized brand.

At the same time, China Mobile became the first-ever Chinese brand to crack the top 10 - coming in at number nine.

Among other Chinese brands to figure in the top 100 were the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (11), the country's leading search engine provider and Asia's fastest growing brand Baidu (29) and newcomers to the list China Life Insurance (33) and the social networking site QQ, run by Tencent Holdings (52).

Millward Brown Optimor said the rise in recognition of Chinese brands was in part down to the fact the nation hosted the Olympic Games in 2008 and in part down to the fact that China had been transformed "from a centre for low-cost production to a nation capable of product innovation and marketing originality."

BrandZ Top 100 assesses brands from across all sectors and put Apple down with a value of more than US$153 billion.

The fastest growing of all brands was Facebook, which came in at 35 with a worth of US$19.1 billion - which represented a rise of 246 percent.

Baidu was the fastest-growing brand in Asia, increasing its value by 141 percent (to US$22.6 billion).

MS