In February this year, the World Famous Brand Assembly (WFBA) announced that 88 of the world’s top 500 brands are Chinese. Of these 88 China-based brands, 79 are from the mainland, six are from Taiwan and three are based in Hong Kong. China’s representatives on the list were predominantly state-owned firms, notably oil companies such as China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), although appliance manufacturer Haier Group was also included. Many of China’s banks were also positioned among the best brands. The list of 500 included 130 representatives from the United States, 60 from Japan, and 35 companies from both Germany and France.

This marks the most favorable international brand recognition to date for Chinese companies. In 2005, WFBA included only 27 Chinese companies in its list of 500. Other global brand rankings still do not have a significant Chinese presence, however. A 2009 top 100 brands’ list produced by Interbrand for Business Week magazine was topped by the usual suspects – Coca Cola (1), McDonald’s (6), Toyota (8) – without a single Chinese representative on the whole list. Another by Millward Brown entitled 'BrandZ Top 100' reserved five places for Chinese companies. China Mobile made it into the top ten at number seven. The remaining four were banks.

The discrepancies between the lists are due to different evaluation techniques utilised in each ranking system. To qualify for Interbrand’s list, for example, a company must derive at least a third of its earnings outside its home country, must be recognisable beyond its customer base, and must make its marketing and financial data publicly available. These standards, particularly the first, would eliminate most Chinese firms, and is part of the reason why Wal-Mart and Visa are also not recognised.

China’s ‘going abroad’ policy is a relatively new phenomenon. Chinese companies will increase their earnings abroad, become more widely recognised and achieve a greater presence on these lists of leading global brands. So we will be keeping a look out for a China-based company in Interbrand’s list for 2010.