The Hurun Research Institute has released the list of China’s most valuable brands in 2015. Published annually since 2006, the list comprehensively assesses the value of 200 home-grown brands on the Chinese mainland based on relevant economic statistics and consumer survey results.

Among them, 101 privately held and 99 State-owned, a total of 170 saw their value increase. The total brand value reached US$696 billion, up 36 percent year-on-year. The top 10 brands accounted for 46 percent of total value.

Tencent, China's largest and most used Internet service portal, claimed the title of the most valuable Chinese brand this year, worth US$44.7 billion. Taobao, the leading ecommerce platform in China, came in the second, worth US$42.9 billion, overtaking China Mobile, Baidu and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). China Mobile ranked third, worth US$42.7 billion.

Xiaomi, a mobile phone brand, was the fastest riser, with a fivefold gain, followed by TCL and Huawei.

This year's list included 26 newcomers, 70 percent privately held, led by Letv, Anbang and Eastmoney.

Most brands on the list come from real estate and financing industries, with 38 and 23 respectively, making up 30 percent of the top 200. Domestic appliances enjoyed the highest average growth rate of brand value of 74 percent, followed by e-commerce and retailing industries with 69 percent.

In terms of headquarter locations, 57 out of the 200 brands stemmed from Beijing-based businesses, followed by Guangdong with 38 and Shanghai with 27.

Here are the top 10 most valuable brands.

 Chunghwa

Chunghwa [File photo]

Brand value: US$16.5 billion

Increase: 9 percent

Industry: Tobacco

Headquarters: Shanghai