U.S. companies dominate 'Most Valuable Brands' list; China rising fast

May 29 (UPI) -- China's Alibaba and Tencent on Tuesday both entered the top ten in a ranking of the world's most valuable brands -- joining giants like Google, Amazon and Apple.

According to a report by BrandZ, China accounts for the three of the fastest-rising brands on the 2018 list. BrandZ, a global brand research firm, said some of China's brands are growing at twice the pace of U.S. brands.

Fourteen Chinese brands rank in the Global Top 100 this year. In 2006, just one Chinese company made that list.

Google is listed as the world's most valuable brand, followed by Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Tencent, a Chinese tech and entertainment conglomerate. Facebook, Visa, McDonald's, Alibaba and AT&T round out the top ten.

This year marked the first time non-U.S. brands grew faster than U.S. brands.

BrandZ chief Doreen Wang told CNN the 2018 list shows Chinese companies have overcome many hurdles.

"The challenges facing Chinese brands are by no means small," Wang said. "Limited brand awareness in international markets, a lack of trust due to historic quality issues and a reluctance by Chinese brands to invest in impactful global advertising campaigns has put them at a disadvantage with their more established competitors.

"Attitudes are changing, particularly among younger consumers who are falling in love with Chinese brands."

North America and the United States, though, again dominate in the number of brands on the list. IBM, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Mastercard, Disney and Marlboro all made the top 20.

More than half the brands that made the top 100 list were tech companies, while retail was noted to be the fastest growing industry, growing 35 percent in the past year.

Tuesday's report said total overall value of the top 100 increased 21 percent to add a record $748 billion in new value.