The release of the 2026 China's 500 Most Valuable Brands list in Beijing on June 24 sends a clear signal to the textile industry: brand equity is becoming the core measure of corporate competitiveness. The over 30 textile and apparel brands on the list contributed to one of the top five industries by total value, with eight brands including Erdos, Hengli, and Weiqiao reaching the 100-billion-yuan level, forming the industry's foundation.
Total Brand Value Exceeds 45 Trillion Yuan, Threshold Rises Significantly
The total value of all listed brands reached 45.29 trillion yuan, up 7.76% year-on-year, and the entry threshold rose to 5.089 billion yuan. The number of brands worth over 100 billion yuan expanded to 146. For the textile industry, this means branding is no longer optional but a necessity for survival—companies below the 5 billion yuan threshold are already excluded from the mainstream brand camp.
Notably, the textile and apparel brands on the list cover the entire supply chain, from raw materials to retail. Chemical fiber giants like Hengli, Rongsheng Petrochemical, and Tongkun; textile raw material leaders like Erdos and Weiqiao; apparel and sportswear brands like Bosideng, Anta, and Li Ning; and home textile companies like Shuixing and Mengjie all appear on the list. This full-chain coverage indicates that brand building has extended from downstream consumer segments to upstream manufacturing.
AI Influence Index Introduced, Redefining Brand Competition
A major change this year is the inclusion of the AI influence index in the evaluation system for the first time by World Brand Lab. This means a brand's voice, reach, and technological visibility in the AI ecosystem now directly affect its valuation. Professor Xu Jing from Peking University noted that in the digital age, a brand is no longer just a knowledge structure in consumers' minds, but a complex system maintained by consumers, platforms, algorithms, content, communities, and organizational capabilities.
For textile enterprises, this change has profound practical implications. Traditionally, textile brand promotion relied on offline channels, trade fairs, and advertising. But in the future, as AI shortens consumer decision-making paths, brands must secure a position in the algorithmic map. High AI influence means a brand has crossed the barrier of traditional search engines and can be prioritized in AI answer engines. This requires textile companies not only to make good products but also to learn to communicate with AI.
Four Driving Forces Replace Single Cost Advantage
The list reflects a fundamental shift in the industry's growth logic. Over the past two decades, the core competitiveness of China's textile and apparel industry was low-cost OEM. But now, the listed brands collectively point to four new drivers:
- Technology innovation: Breakthroughs in functional fibers and green chemicals by companies like Hengli and Rongsheng are reshaping brand value at the raw material end.
- Cultural empowerment: National brands like Bosideng and Li Ning have achieved brand premiums by integrating traditional cultural elements into design.
- Green and low-carbon: From Erdos's sustainable cashmere supply chain to Weiqiao's eco-friendly fabrics, low-carbon practices have become a key component of brand value.
- Global operations: Brands like Anta and 361° have built global brand recognition through overseas acquisitions and localized operations.
Demonstration Effect of 100-Billion-Yuan Brands
The eight 100-billion-yuan textile and apparel brands—Erdos, Hengli, Weiqiao, Bosideng, Jinding, Qipai, Anta, and Yueda—form the industry's first tier. Their common characteristics include vertical integration of the industrial chain, sustained brand investment, and rapid response to emerging consumer trends. For example, Erdos's full-chain control in cashmere and Hengli's scale and technological advantages in chemicals provide solid support for their brand value.
For small and medium-sized textile enterprises, the path of these top brands offers a clear reference: brand building is not the sole responsibility of the marketing department but requires coordination across the entire chain from raw materials, production, design, marketing, to service.
Implications for Future Brand Management
The view of Ding Haisen, CEO of World Executive Group and World Brand Lab, is worth pondering: future brand competition will no longer be about occupying consumers' mental ladder but about imprinting an indelible mark on AI's algorithmic map. This means textile companies need to rethink brand management—shifting from traditional advertising to content ecosystem building, and from one-way communication to multi-dimensional interaction with consumers, algorithms, and platforms.