Three Shenzhen companies among top 10 of 2026 Kantar BrandZ China's most valuable brands

An aerial view of the Shenzhen Bay skyline in Nanshan District, one of Shenzhen’s key technology and business hubs. Shenzhen Special Zone Daily

Three Shenzhen-based companies secured places among the top 10 in the 2026 Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands, underscoring the city’s growing strength across technology, finance and consumer services.

Tencent retained the No. 1 position for the sixth year in a row, with a brand value of US$209.893 billion, up 6% year on year. Huawei ranked fifth with a brand value of US$80.233 billion, an increase of 25%, while Ping An placed ninth at US$36.840 billion, up 24%.

The Kantar BrandZ ranking is a major global brand valuation ranking that combines financial analysis with consumer research. It evaluates brands using financial value and brand contribution, which measures the share of financial value driven by brand equity.

The total value of the 100 brands on this year’s list reached US$1.37 trillion, representing a 13% increase from the previous year and marking the second consecutive year of double-digit growth. Media and entertainment, financial services, consumer technology and service platforms, and retail emerged as the four strongest-performing sectors, together accounting for nearly 70% of the total value of the top 100 brands.

Source: Kantar.com

In addition to Tencent, Huawei and Ping An, other Shenzhen companies featured on the list include BYD, China Merchants Bank, SF Express, Dongpeng Beverage, DJI, HEYTEA and ZTE. These companies span advanced manufacturing, financial services, logistics, consumer goods and technology hardware. Their presence on the list reflects Shenzhen’s increasingly diverse brand landscape.

Competitive advantage is no longer derived solely from a company’s technological capabilities. Increasingly, it depends on whether companies can translate technology into value that consumers can see, experience and continue to use.

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, together with fast-changing consumer needs and expectations, is reshaping the underlying logic of brand growth, said Doreen Wang, Kantar Greater China CEO and global chair of Kantar BrandZ.

She added that the key to sustained growth remains staying close to consumers and building deeper connections both online and offline.

“Chinese brands are demonstrating strong growth resilience and agile innovation capabilities,” said Wang.

London-based Kantar is a global data, insights and consulting company. It was formerly part of WPP, the global advertising and communications group. Kantar BrandZ is Kantar’s brand valuation platform, which produces the annual Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands report.