A total of 18 brands from China made the cut for the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands 2021 ranking featuring 100 brands from around the world, making China the second most represented country after the US and extending its lead over Europe, according to Kantar on Monday.

Chinese brands have grown from 11 percent of the top 100 value in 2011 to 14 percent today.

Both Tencent and Alibaba strengthened their positions in the global top 10. Tencent also became a member of the world's top five most valuable brands with a significant annual brand value increase of 60 percent. Moutai became the world's most valuable alcohol brand with its value more than four times that of Budweiser, the second highest in the category.

Kantar found technology dominates the top end of the Kantar BrandZ ranking, with seven of the top 10 brands coming from the tech sector. Tech has also enabled non-tech brands to achieve significant growth, for example Gucci - harnessing the power of TikTok during the pandemic.

Doreen Wang, Kantar Greater China president and global chair of Kantar BrandZ, said: "Chinese brands underwent an exceptionally challenging year in 2020, but they still achieved robust growth and are becoming an increasingly important force on the global stage. On the one hand, it is because the Chinese economy has stabilized and returned to growth, injecting new optimism into Chinese consumers. Chinese brands are good at adapting themselves to serve changing consumer needs, and were rewarded by more love and higher loyalty. On the other hand, after China entered a new phase of development, more Chinese companies understand they need to evolve from China speed to China quality, from Chinese products to Chinese brands. So they never stopped investing in brand building even in the darkest moments."

Kantar's annual global and local brand valuation rankings combine rigorously analyzed financial data, with extensive brand equity research. Since 1998, BrandZ has shared brand-building insights with business leaders based on interviews with 4 million consumers, for 18,000 brands in 51 markets.