• by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, October 9, 2018

Notwithstanding the current trade with the US, the country has been opening up for the past couple of decades and brands have been keen to reach a growing middle class who want to drink the best Scotch, wear the latest designer clothes and post selfies on Instagram through the latest iPhone.

However, there is another side to this. The Chinese aren't just consumers. We have all seen the "Made in China" label on everyday items, but that manufacturing statement is going to go way beyond everyday low-cost items.

According to the latest FutureBrand Index, Chinese businesses are in the process of building mega-brands -- and they will be coming to a high street and e-commerce store soon.

What's more, according to the researchers, these Chinese brands have invested heavily in product, branding and technology to ensure they are future-proof. Hence, the researchers make the bold claims that, soon enough -- "We’ll be filling our cars with Sinopec, not BP or Exxon, we’ll be taking insurance with Ping An, not HSBC or Citibank, and we’ll be drinking Kweichow Moutai not Johnnie Walker or Pepsi."

It sounds like Kweichow Moutai is the big one to watch here. It has entered the FutureBrand Index straight in at number two. It's the world's biggest liquor brand, with a claimed market cap of $128bn, and it's got serious investment behind it. 

The takeaway is that China's rising middle class has become used to the taste of Johnnie Walker and other Scotch brands, and so it has decided to launch its own. The middle class made the demand in China for the company to form, and it will soon be a name that is far more familiar to us all than it is today.

Other ones to watch out for are Chinese insurer Ping An, which rises from 17th to 7th place in the FutureBrand Index, and China Life Insurance, which has risen to 11th, from 35th spot last year. Petrol company Sinopec is also the biggest riser of all this year, up 42 places. 

Ironically, the biggest losers are brands you might have thought would be doing well off the back of the growth in the Chinese middle class. Luxury goods brand LVMH is the biggest decliner -- dropping more than 50 places in the Top 100 -- and Walmart is just behind, losing 37. Ambev -- another brand one might think would be doing well from wealthier Chinese consumers raising a Bud to their success -- is down 38 spots.

Sharing the same fate -- falling 37 positions -- we have Facebook. It is the most noticeable name in a list of many tech companies that have fallen because consumers are telling the researchers they have yet to see another "big thing" to get them excited. 

So if you thought China was there to consume, you're only half right. If you were anticipating that it would take its middle class's new tastes and behaviours and turn them into goods and services that would be exported straight back to the West, then you would be completely correct.

I have to admit I have not heard of Kweichow Moutai but when it has gone straight into second spot -- above Apple but just one spot below Disney -- you know it's going to be a name to watch out for.