For the second time, Tencent is hailed as China's most valuable brand. (Photo : REUTERS)
For the second time, Tencent was named the most valuable Chinese brand of the year, according to the Hurun Research Institute.
The Shenzhen-based Internet giant, which operates the popular instant message service WeChat, posted a brand value jump of 33 percent, which is equivalent to 277 billion yuan, Hurun stated in a press release issued on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Alibaba's online marketplace, Taobao, grabbed the second spot with 266 billion yuan. After garnering a 44-percent growth in brand value, it overtook China Mobile, Baidu, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
Coming closely behind is China Mobile with 265 billion yuan.
Among the top 200 brands in the country, a total of 91 new private firms entered the list. The average brand value increase pulled in by these companies was over 50 percent, or 19.1 billion yuan.
The Hurun Research Institute has been releasing the list for a decade. During its early years, state-owned enterprises such as the ICBC and China Mobile occupied the dominant spots. But overtime, the trend has shifted and Internet firms like Baidu, Taobao and Tencent challenged and overtook them.
Tencent Holdings also snatched from Alibaba Group Holding the title of Asia's largest Internet firm, according to a Bloomberg report, after the latter lost $140.7 billion from its market value.
According to Jeff Hao, a Hong Kong-based analyst affiliated with China Merchants Securities Holdings, "Alibaba's second quarter earnings were not that impressive, whereas Tencent has bright prospects of generating money from mobile advertising."
Tencent added pressure to Alibaba as it stepped up its game by buying Hollywood content for its video portal, pouring investments in cloud computing and other on-demand mobile services.
It also sealed an e-commerce alliance with JD.com, the report added.
