According to valuation consultancy, Brand Finance China’s value increased by 40 per cent in 2019. Globally, developing economies on an average saw 31.3 times faster brand value growth over the past year than developed ones. The average year-on-year nation brand value growth among developing economies stood at 13.9 per cent compared to as little as 0.4 per cent for developed economies. The United States recorded a brand value growth of seven per cent over the past year.

The US and China, the two largest economies in the world, have been at loggerheads since July 2018 in a bitter trade war, with tariffs imposed by both sides on billions of dollars’ worth of imports and exports. Despite this, China’s brand value has defied expectations of a slowdown, benefitting from the success of some of its most dominant brands, including ICBC, Huawei and Alibaba. The last two have incorporated strong marketing strategies that mirror their international counterparts and have proved themselves as legitimate competitors to western brands.

Every country aims to drive some form of competitive advantage for their products through the country’s brand image. Some use tourism advertising, some FDI campaigns, and some global events such as the Olympics.