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The logo of Alibaba Group seen at its office in Beijing on January 5, 2021. Photo: Reuters
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WeChat’s value surpasses Ferrari as Covid-19 pandemic upends businesses and buoys technology brands from Apple to Tesla

  • Tencent Holding’s WeChat saw the brand value of China’s dominant social networking app increase 25 per cent to US$67.9 billion in 10th spot overall, worth more than Ferrari
  • China’s share of the world’s top 500 most expensive brands grew to 77, from 70, valued at a combined US$1.42 trillion, an increase of 20 per cent.
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Daniel Ren
Daniel Renin Shanghai
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The global coronavirus pandemic boosted the brand value of China’s largest technology companies last year, even as it decimated livelihoods and economies the world over, according to a report by the British consultant Brand Finance.
The brand value of Alibaba.com, the trading platform of Alibaba Group Holding that focuses on serving business and enterprises, jumped by 108 per cent to US$39.2 billion as the second fastest-growing brand, second only to Tesla’s 158 per cent increase, according to the 2021 report. Tencent Holding’s WeChat saw the brand value of China’s dominant social networking app increase 25 per cent to US$67.9 billion in 10th spot overall, worth more than Ferrari.
“Alibaba.com has benefited from the unprecedented surge in demand, as consumers turned to online shopping during the pandemic,” Brand Finance said in its report. “WeChat ran several government-mandated health code apps to keep track of those travelling or in quarantine, providing access to real-time data on Covid-19, online consultations, and self-diagnosis services powered by artificial intelligence to over 300 million users.”

The latest ranking shows how the pandemic has upended China’s businesses, turning technology companies into the biggest winners, as tens of millions of stay-at-home people are forced to conduct their consumption, work, and leisure via internet services. The change has given legs to the Chinese government’s push since 2013 to sustain the nation’s economic growth through digitalisation.

Shi Jiayi, a student volunteer from Beijing Foreign Studies University, teaches as a senior resident how to use a health-tracking app, introduced amid the COVID-19 outbreak, at a community activity centre in Haidian district in Beijing on December 8, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

The latest digital technology from big data and artificial intelligence to cloud computing could help China’s businesses improve their overall efficiency, and is believed to be a game-changer for the mainland‘s economy.

“The ranking is the latest proof that technology is the most powerful weapon to drive the growth of China’s economy,” said Eric Han, a senior manager with the business advisory firm Shanghai Suolei. “The coronavirus outbreak provides the catalyst for Chinese businesses to embrace digitalisation.”

Alipay and WeChat mobile phone applications on display in Shanghai on 4 September 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

China’s share of the world’s top 500 most expensive brands grew to 77, from 70, valued at a combined US$1.42 trillion, an increase of 20 per cent. China trails only the US which has 197 brands including Apple and Tesla in the top 500 ranking, with a combined value of US$3.28 trillion. Apple surpassed Amazon and Google to regain the top spot for the first time since 2016. All three companies are capitalised at more than US$1 trillion, among the world’s largest companies. Tesla had the fastest-growing brand value, jumping 158 per cent to US$32 billion in the 42nd position.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), with nearly half a million employees on staff and one of the country’s largest branch networks, was China’s most valuable brand, worth US$72.8 billion in overall eighth place, Brand Finance said. The bank slipped from sixth spot a year earlier.
WeChat’s ranking jumped by nine notches. Other Chinese tech behemoths that made it to the top 500 including the e-commerce platform JD.com, the food delivery giant Meituan and China’s dominant internet search engine Baidu.
Taobao, the online marketplace for small businesses and individuals that sells everything from clothes to movie tickets, surged 44 per cent to US$53.3 billion. Tmall, a cross-border marketplace for established brands and merchants to sell directly to Chinese consumers, climbed 60 per cent to US$49.2 billion. Both platforms are operated by Alibaba, which owns this newspaper.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Pandemic gives boost to Chinese tech giants
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