The entry threshold for brand value has climbed to 5.089 billion yuan, marking a new milestone. According to the 2026 China 500 Most Valuable Brands list released on June 24, more than 30 textile and apparel brands made the cut, covering the entire chain from raw material manufacturing, garment production, sportswear to home textiles. This data sends a clear signal: China's textile industry has moved beyond the phase of relying solely on scale and cost advantages, and brand equity is becoming a new anchor for industry competition.
Brand Value Distribution: Expansion of the Hundred-Billion Club Across the Chain
The list shows that the total value of the top 500 brands reached 45.29 trillion yuan, up 7.76% year-on-year. The textile and apparel sector contributed eight hundred-billion-yuan brands: Erdos, Hengli, Weiqiao, Bosideng, Jinba, Qipai, Anta, and Yueda, forming the core base of the industry's brand value. Notably, these giant brands are not concentrated only in garment or sportswear—Hengli and Weiqiao represent the upstream chemical fiber and cotton spinning sectors, proving that raw material enterprises have also made substantial progress in branding.
From a category perspective, the selected brands include sportswear brands like Li-Ning, 361°, Xtep, and Toread; mass casual wear brands like HLA, Peacebird, and Semir; home textile brands such as Shuixing and Mendale; and supply chain players like Transfar (textile chemicals), Tongkun (polyester filament), and Rongsheng Petrochemical (PTA and polyester). The entire textile and apparel ecosystem is deepening its branding efforts. This means brand value is not only for end consumers—it also generates a premium effect in B2B transactions.
AI Influence Enters Evaluation: Brand Competition Changes Dimension
A key change this year is that the World Brand Lab incorporated the AI Influence Index into its evaluation system for the first time. This is not a mere bonus item. According to the official explanation, a higher AI influence indicates that a brand has greater say, wider online reach, and higher technical visibility within the AI ecosystem. In other words, when consumer decision-making is shortened by AI and intelligent agents become gatekeepers of traffic distribution, traditional marketing investment efficiency will be severely discounted if a brand does not occupy a favorable position in AI answer engines.
Professor Xu Jing from Peking University's Guanghua School of Management pointed out at the conference that in the digital intelligence era, a brand is no longer just a 'knowledge structure in the consumer's mind' but a complex system co-maintained by consumers, platforms, algorithms, content, communities, and organizational capabilities. This judgment is particularly relevant for textile and apparel enterprises—when Generation Z consumers habitually use AI to search for outfit advice, fabric comparisons, or brand environmental performance, a brand's presence in the AI ecosystem directly influences purchasing decisions.
From OEM to Brand: A Four-Drive Transformation Path
The industry as a whole has moved away from the low-cost OEM label towards a four-drive model: technological innovation, cultural empowerment, green and low-carbon practices, and globalized operations. For example, Erdos leverages its cashmere raw material advantages combined with sustainable fashion narratives to build differentiated positioning in the high-end market; Anta has pushed its brand value to the hundred-billion level through a multi-brand matrix and global acquisitions; Bosideng has achieved brand premium through technical upgrades in down jackets and national trend collaborations.
The common thread among these cases is that they no longer rely on low prices and high volumes, but build moats through technological barriers (e.g., Hengli's ultra-fine fiber, Weiqiao's intelligent spinning), cultural narratives (e.g., Li-Ning's national trend, Jinba's business casual positioning), or green certifications (e.g., Transfar's eco-friendly auxiliaries). For small and medium enterprises in the chain, this means brand building is no longer optional—it is a must-answer question about pricing power and survival space.