The China Trademark Association (CTA) on December 24 released the 2021 edition of the China Trademark and Brand Development Index (CTBDI) (《中国商标品牌发展指数》) to evaluate China’s development status of trademarks and brands by province in 2020. Guangdong province ranks first with 89.31 score points, followed by Zhejiang province (88.87), Beijing municipality (87.68), Jiangsu province (86.41), and Shanghai municipality (85.66).

The 2021 edition of the CTBDI is the second annual version released by the CTA drawing on 5 tier-1 indicators including domestic and global application, quality improvement, potential development, social environment optimization, and profit making, 11 tier-2 indicators, and 26 tier-3 indicators.

The evaluation results show that overall speaking, trademarks and brands developed well in China in 2020, despite the salient differences in the performance between provinces/municipalities in east China and in middle and west China, and between provinces/municipalities in south China and north China.

In terms of domestic and global application of trademarks and brands, the top provinces/municipalities are Guangdong province (99.15), Zhejiang province (95.72), and Beijing municipality (93.63). The results reflect the positive effects trademarks and brands have on economic development.

In terms of quality improvement of trademarks and brands, the top three provinces/municipalities are Zhejiang province (93.30), Shandong province (91.29), and Guangdong province (89.58). The results reflect the positive effects trademarks and brands have on value transfer.

In terms of potential development of trademarks and brands, the top three provinces/municipalities are Jiangsu province (92.58), Shanghai municipality (89.67), and Guangdong province (88.61), followed by Chongqing province (74.88) and Jiangxi province (73.68), as two representatives of middle and west China, making significant progress.

In terms of social environment optimization, the top three provinces/municipalities are Guangxi province (84.06), Anhui province (83.26), and Shanghai municipality (82.94). The results show that provinces/municipalities in south China enjoy a more policy-friendly social environment that those in north China. 

In terms of profit making ability, the top three provinces/municipalities are Beijing municipality (99.38), Shanghai municipality (89.35), and Guangdong province (85.31). The results show trademarks and brands contribute more to the economic development in developed provinces/municipalities than in less developed ones.

The full text of the 2021 edition of the CTBDI is available here.