Value of China's top 200 brands hits record high in 2020

The total value of China's top 200 brands has surged 20 percent from a year earlier to hit a record high of 9.2 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) in 2020, according to the latest Hurun Most Valuable China Brands list released on Thursday.

Leading Chinese baijiu brand Kweichow Moutai crowned the list for the third consecutive year to see its brand value soar 63 percent year-on-year to top 1.04 trillion yuan in 2020, said the list.

China's top business-to-consumer online retail platform Tmall was only dislodged by Kweichow Moutai this year, with its value up 53 percent year-on-year to reach 490 billion yuan in 2020.

The brand value of Meituan tripled in 2020 to reach 240 billion yuan, helping the e-commerce brand to jump to the seventh position this year.

A total of 38 brands made the list for the first time this year, including Chinese electric carmaker Nio and newly floated lifestyle retailer Pop Mart.

Among the top 200 Chinese brands recognized by the Shanghai-based consultancy Hurun Institute, 118 are privately owned enterprises.

The brand value of medical and healthcare companies reported the most rapid growth of all industries over the past 12 months, surging about 74 percent on average, according to the list.