Brand Finance’s Global 500 2026 report reveals 68 Chinese brands are now valued at $1.56 trillion , up 10% from 2025
BEIJING, 20 January 2026 - China’s media giant TikTok/Douyin (brand value up 45% to USD153 billion) leads the cohort of Chinese brands featured in the Global 500 2026 ranking, according to a new report by Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. The brand’s continued growth reflects its expanding role beyond social media, with increasing relevance across digital commerce and global consumer engagement.
Staying steady at the 10th position globally this year is State Grid Corporation of China (brand value up 20% to USD102 billion), underscoring the scale and strategic importance of China’s infrastructure and utilities sector. This is followed by ICBC (brand value up 15% to USD90 billion) in 12th place, reinforcing China’s dominance in global financial services and the institutional strength of its banking sector
WeChat (brand value up 46% to USD48 billion) ranks as the second strongest brand globally with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 95.1/100 and AAA+ brand strength rating. According to Brand Finance’s market research data, the brand is widely perceived and familiar across China market, and among those who know it, consideration levels remain strong.
With a BSI score of 93.6/100 and AAA+ brand strength rating, Wuliangye (brand value down 2% to USD27.3 billion) emerges as the world strongest spirit brand of 2026. The brand’s strength reflects a deliberate strategic shift, as the company prioritises long-term brand value over short-term scale expansion driven by heavy channel stocking.
Scott Chen, Managing Director, Brand Finance China, commented:
“In 2026 China’s brand value achieves double-digit growth, underpinned by investment in people’s livelihood and infrastructure. Upgrades in consumption and tourism, alongside the integration of AI across key sectors, are enabling domestic and international brands to optimise market structures, reshaping global competition benchmarks and reinforcing the strength of an open, innovation-driven economy.”
The Brand Finance Global 500 2026 ranking features a total of 68 brands from China, representing 15%, or USD1.56 trillion of the overall brand value ranked this year, positioning it as the second-largest contributor globally, behind the US.
Other notable Chinese brands featured in this year’s Global 500 ranking include:
Global Insights
According to Brand Finance’s Global 500 2026 research, Apple retains its position as the world’s most valuable brand, growing 6% to USD608 billion. While hardware growth remains measured, services – including advertising, cloud, and the App Store, continue to strengthen performance according to the company, supported by steady demand across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Behind Apple, Microsoft is the world’s second-most valuable brand, with its brand value up 23% to exceed USD565.2 billion in 2026. Google (up 5% to USD433 billion) and Amazon (up 4% to USD370 billion) retain third and fourth positions in the Global 500 ranking, underscoring the continued dominance of leading US technology brands.
NVIDIA is the world’s fifth-most valuable brand in 2026. Its brand value has more than doubled since 2025 (+110%) to USD184 billion in 2026, reflecting its central role in powering global AI infrastructure. NVIDIA has climbed four ranks from 2025, overtaking TikTok/Douyin, Walmart, Samsung Group, and Facebook in brand value.
YouTube has become the world’s strongest brand, with a BSI score of 95.3/100, rising from eighth place in 2025. Brand Finance’s research across 10 markets found that familiarity with YouTube exceeded 90% in eight of them, and, on average, 70% of respondents would consider using the platform. This demonstrates YouTube’s exceptional ability to convert widespread awareness into active consideration, reinforcing its brand equity at a global scale.
Revolut has emerged as the fastest growing brand among the world’s 500 most valuable brands.
These results underscore the enduring power of strong branding in driving growth and resilience, both in China and globally.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
