Banks, dot-com giants among most valuable brands in China

BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Most of the top 10 valuable Chinese brands in 2017 are owned by state-owned banks and Internet powerhouses, according to a report by Britain-based consulting firm Brand Finance.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, one of the five banking heavyweights in China, edges China Mobile to top the chart with a brand value estimated at 47.8 billion U.S. dollars, gaining over 10 billion U.S. dollars from 2016 and earning it the 10th place globally.

Alibaba, China's top e-commerce firm, boasts the most valuable brand among Chinese Internet companies, having the value surging by 48.5 percent year on year to reach 34.8 billion U.S. dollars.

Tencent ranks the 10th domestically with a brand value of some 22.3 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Brand Finance report which unveiled the top 500 most valuable brands in the world.

Compared with last year, Tencent's WeChat, the most popular instant messaging app in China, ascended more than 100 rungs up the global value ladder with some 13.1 billion U.S. dollars.

Baidu took a nosedive in the hierarchy by retreating 50 slots globally.

The world's most valuable brand is claimed by Google, which surpassed Apple with the intangible asset worth some 109.7 billion U.S. dollars.

Gauges used by Brand Finance for the ranking include brand strength, potential value of brand licensing and prospect sales volume.

Editor: Mu Xuequan