World Brand Lab Releases China's 500 Most Valuable Brands 2025

State Grid, PetroChina and Haier ranked the top three, with 135 Chinese brands valued at more than 100 billion RMB

NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / June 17, 2025 / The 22nd World Brand Summit was held on June 18th in Beijing. The organizer, World Brand Lab released the report of "2025 China's 500 Most Valuable Brands" list. In this annual report based on financial data, brand strength, and consumer behavior analysis, State Grid topped the list with a brand value of 715.26 billion RMB. Also among the top five are PetroChina, Haier, ICBC, and China Resources. These brands have entered the ranks of world-class brands. Management experts from Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, MIT, and Peking University attended the summit and delivered keynote speeches. They engaged in in-depth discussions with over 600 entrepreneurs and managers on the topic of "Global Brand Strategy and Digital Supply Chain Management in the Era of AI Revolution".

The total value of China's 500 Most Valuable Brands of 2025 is 42.03 trillion RMB, an increase of 8.97% over last year. The growth rate has slowed significantly compared to previous years. Dr. Steve Woolgar, Chairman of the Academic Committee of World Brand Lab and Emeritus Professor of Marketing at the University of Oxford, said, "Over the past 20 years, I have witnessed the remarkable rise of Chinese brands, some of which have already had a strong global influence." State Grid, Haier, China Resources, Sinochem, China Southern Power Grid, HBIS, China Huadian, Wuliangye, XCMG, Tsingtao Brewery, Air China, Tongwei, Bosideng, Feihe, Hengli, GCL, JOMOO, Doublestar, Sungrow and others have become the best-performing brands of 2025.

This is the 22nd year that World Brand Lab has compiled the China brand report. A total of 135 Chinese brands are valued at more than 100 billion RMB this year, an increase of 27 brands from last year. Brand is an intangible asset. Among Chinese listed companies intangible assets represented by brands account for more than 90% of market value, a proportion similar to that of S&P 500 companies.

The competitive strength of a region mainly depends on its comparative advantages, and brand building is a key driver in shaping such advantages and promoting regional economic development. A brand is an important symbol of a region's progress, and brand development and regional economic growth are closely interlinked. In terms of the regional distribution, Beijing ranked first with 92 brands, as the headquarters of central enterprises with strong profitability are concentrated in the capital. Guangdong remained in second place with 81 brands. Brands on the list can be divided into national and global brands according to the scope of their influence. There are 429 brands with national influence and 71 brands with global influence.

In this year's list, brands from 24 industries were selected. The food and beverage industry remains the industry with the most brands selected, with a total of 77 brands. The industries ranking second to fifth are the light industry (41), construction materials (36), communication electronics and IT (35), and media (32), respectively. In measuring brand loyalty, World Brand Lab referred to the rating data from iTrust Rating. In measuring brand leadership, especially ESG scores, World Brand Lab referred to the ESG database of SuperFinance. Carboncare International's measurement of corporate carbon emissions was also used to promote the addition of the "carbon score" label to brands.

Dr. Elie Ofek, a professor of marketing at Harvard Business School, pointed out that companies have invested billions of dollars in AI, especially in Generative AI. Yet many firms still struggle to justify ROI. On the promise side, AI can positively affect brand equity by reinforcing rational and emotional associations. It enables resonance, immersion, companionship, and agentic interaction. On the peril side, AI can damage brand equity if used in ways that touch core brand promises, emotional sensitivities, or social and family values. He reminds enterprises that the application of AI should not be blindly followed. It is even more important to pay attention to data fairness, model transparency, and potential consequences.

Dr. Steve Evans, Professor at the Institute for Manufacturing at University of Cambridge, noted that AI technology has created new growth opportunities for enterprises by promoting the achievement of sustainable development goals, while also enhancing the social value and market competitiveness of brands. AI is becoming a key force in aligning industrial systems with natural systems. On one hand, AI contributes to energy efficiency - it could reduce energy demand by over 4% per year by 2030. On the other hand, AI improves system coordination and helps manage industrial complexity, mitigating disruptions across supply chains. AI also drives a shift toward regenerative models. More importantly, it enhances system resilience by encouraging companies to focus on value creation. These developments point to a structural transformation in how we source and use materials.

Dr. Maria Jesus Saenz, Director of the Digital Supply Chain Transformation Lab at MIT, emphasized that the stability and transparency of the supply chain are crucial for brand reputation, and the application of AI in this field has significantly enhanced the brand capabilities of enterprises. Digital supply chain transformation involves the application of digital technologies and data to move toward a value-driven E2E supply chain. Global supply chains today demand resilient strategies. To build resilience, companies should ground their supply chain capabilities in digitization-focusing on flexibility, responsiveness, redundancy, and robustness. This resilience is not only reflected in operational performance, but also helps convey a reliable and transparent brand image to stakeholders.

Dr. Ravi Dhar, a professor of management and marketing from Yale School of Management, pointed out that AI directly enhances brand value by optimizing corporate operations and innovating product and service offerings. Companies are increasingly enhancing brand capabilities through AI, primarily in three areas. First, brand personalization, since AI enables customized experiences across the entire customer journey. Second, brand insights, where AI improves market segmentation by integrating data from multiple sources. Third, brand creative, when AI allows brands to rapidly produce context-specific content while ensuring consistency in brand voice and positioning. Companies must rethink brand strategy - shifting from static brand expression to dynamic brand adaptation.

Dr. Haisen Ding, CEO of World Executive Group and World Brand Lab and a PhD from University of Oxford, stated that the modernization of brand strategy currently centers on four key directions. First, AI-driven brand intelligence. AI technology is profoundly changing the way enterprises operate and brand shaping strategies. Through the application of AI, enterprises can not only enhance brand influence but also establish stronger competitive advantages. Second, the adjustment of brand supply chains and regional strategies, for example, diversifying manufacturing and sourcing from a single market to multiple countries. Third, blockchain-enabled brand management, such as enhancing brand transparency and traceability. Fourth, exploring the integration of brands with AI, blockchain, and RWA, for instance, enabling brands to innovate their products or services by offering tokenized assets to stand out in the market.

World Brand Lab is an international brand value research institute wholly owned by World Executive Group, the world's leading digital business and strategy consulting firm. World Brand Lab was co-founded on the initiative of Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell, who served as its first chairman. Its research results have become an important basis for intangible asset valuation in the process of M&A of many enterprises.

SOURCE: World Brand Lab