HANGZHOU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The 2026 World Brand Moganshan Summit opened on Sunday in Deqing, east China's Zhejiang Province, aiming to drive the high-quality development of Chinese brands and promote mutual learning and exchange among global brands.
Themed "Brands Bring Better Future for the World," the summit serves as a platform for brand dialogue, bringing together government departments, Chinese and foreign enterprises, higher education institutions and industry associations to engage in in-depth discussions regarding brand development.
This year's event is co-hosted by the Brand Work Office of Xinhua News Agency, the China Council for Brand Development and the Zhejiang Branch of Xinhua News Agency. Its main agenda includes an opening ceremony and flagship forum, a press conference releasing China's brand value evaluation results and a world top 500 brands development forum. There are also featured side events such as brand value enhancement sessions, a high-quality cultural tourism development conference and a brand exhibition.
Lyu Yansong, editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, stated in his address that Xinhua will tell stories of Chinese brands to enhance their visibility, reputation and international influence, and deepen think tank empowerment to provide scientific decision-making references for high-quality brand development. Meanwhile, Xinhua will also leverage its platform advantages to help Chinese brands reach the global market while enabling global brands to share in China's opportunities, Lyu added.
Lian Yimin, chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said Zhejiang will strive to build a "Zhejiang Premium" brand matrix characterized by exceptional quality, cutting-edge technology, superior services, advanced culture, strong market competitiveness and high social reputation. With a first-class innovation ecosystem and a most competitive business environment, Zhejiang warmly welcomes global brands to invest, thrive and pursue innovative development in the province.
In recent years, a number of world-class Chinese brands have accelerated their growth, steadily increasing their brand value, market recognition, and global influence. This year's Global 500 brand value rankings report indicates that China serves as a key engine of global brand value growth. Chinese brands on the list achieved a record-high combined value, with 68 entries in the Global 500 representing 15.1 percent of the total value of the Global 500. Several Chinese brands now rank among the global leaders in sectors such as technology, utilities and finance.
A vivid example of this technological brand power is Unitree Robotics. During the recently concluded May Day holiday, Unitree's first directly-operated store in China, located in Beijing's Wangfujing shopping district, was bustling with visitors. Visitors eagerly interacted with the G1 humanoid robot, Go2 robot dog, and other products, experiencing the charm of technology up close.
The store represents a significant attempt by this closely-watched Chinese brand to bring embodied AI products into everyday public life -- transforming the company's technological breakthroughs in hardware structure, motion control, and human-computer interaction into more intuitive, hands-on product experiences for consumers.
Wang Xingxing, founder and CEO of Unitree Robotics, said in his speech at the summit's main forum that Unitree has always regarded innovation as the root of its brand. Since its founding in 2016, the company has insisted on developing core components in-house -- from motors, reducers, core sensors to motion control algorithms -- all independently developed and iteratively optimized.
It is reported that in 2025, the company's humanoid robot shipments exceeded 5,500 units, while its global market share for quadruped robots remained stable at between 60 and 70 percent.
Known as "the world's supermarket," the city of Yiwu in Zhejiang hosts the world's largest wholesale market for small commodities. Looking back at the development of Yiwu's market, its brand building has followed a trajectory from "white-label" products to "self-owned brands" and then to "brands going global."
Data shows that currently, over 21,600 merchants, accounting for more than 47 percent of all merchants, in the Yiwu International Trade Market have registered trademarks and IP, with those holding overseas registered trademarks making up over 10 percent of the total.
Ni Jianyong with the Zhejiang China Small Commodity City Group Co., Ltd., the operator of the Yiwu International Trade Market, said that in 2023, Yiwu launched the world's first AI large language model in the field of commodity trading and developed AIGC applications, providing merchants with one-stop services ranging from AI design and AI product image generation to brand copywriting.
"This enables white-label merchants who previously had no knowledge of design or marketing to build a brand visual identity and a digital storefront at low cost," Ni said. "Now, the AI model has rolled out 13 tools, serving 34,000 merchants, with those deeply using AI seeing a more-than-30-percent increase in orders."
In the face of increasingly fierce international market competition, a number of Chinese brands have proactively sought transformation, extending their operations to all corners of the world and building a truly global presence.
According to Wang Meiyan, vice president of Haier Group, a brand is a symbol of a nation's overall strength. Haier has been the world's No. 1 in major home appliance market share for 17 consecutive years, and has ranked in the top 10 of China's global brand builders for nine years running.
Haier now operates in more than 200 countries and regions, and ranks among the industry's top 5 in nearly 30 of them.
"The Chinese government has relentlessly pursued the innovation, design, and new creation strategy," said David Haigh, chairman and CEO of Brand Finance. "The historic key words for China, or Chinese brands, are fast, reliable delivery, extremely low prices, and high-quality production." ■
