(Yicai) Dec. 15 -- China accounts for almost 10 percent of the top 500 brands ranked for global influence, according to the latest annual list compiled by the World Brand Lab.

China has 48 entries in the 2023 World's 500 Most Influential Brands, released on Dec. 13. That was three more than last year to rank China third overall, behind the United States with 193 and France with 49.

The top-ranked Chinese brands were electric utility State Grid Corporation of China at 20th, internet titan Tencent Holdings at 34th, home appliances giant Haier Group at 35th, and tech behemoth Huawei Technologies at 56th.

Microsoft took the No. 1 spot this year, pushing Apple into second, while Amazon was third.

To compile the rankings, the World Brand Lab assesses 80,000 major global brands based on three key indicators: market share, brand loyalty, and global leadership. 

Other Chinese brands on the list include state-owned conglomerate China Resources Holdings, China Life Insurance, liquor maker Yibin Wuliangye Group, China Southern Power Grid, leading beer maker Tsingtao Brewery, state-owned industrial giant Sinochem, Hengli Petrochemical, and Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group, better known as XCMG.

Of the 25 brands newly added to the list, six were Chinese: builder Poly Developments & Holdings Group, ByteDance-owned TikTok, state power development giant China Huadian, the world's largest producer of solar silicon Tongwei Group, jet fuel supplier China National Aviation Fuel, and down jacket maker Bosideng International Holdings.

The rankings cover 47 industries, with the food and beverage sector having the most entries with 35 brands, followed by the auto industry with 32. “With the global rise of an aging population, there is promising potential for sustainable growth in pharmaceutical and health brands,” the World Brand Lab noted.

The brands on the list were set up 98.6 years ago on average, compared with 98.22 last year. Of the Chinese brands, Kweichow Moutai, Tsingtao, Wuliangye, Bank of China, and AIA Group have surpassed the century mark. 

Mastering uncertainty is essential for future chief executive officers, noted Haisen Ding, CEO of the World Executive Group and the World Brand Lab. For chief marketing or chief business officers, leveraging artificial intelligence is crucial for continuous global monitoring of brand footprint, he added.

Initially chaired by Robert Mundell, the 1999 Nobel laureate in economics, the World Brand Lab is owned by World Executive.

Editor: Martin Kadiev