THE total economic aggregate of Qingdao branded companies were 470.8 billion yuan in 2010, 13 percent higher than 2009 and accounting for 46 percent in the total revenue of the city’s companies.

    Since last year, the city has made three breakthroughs in branding. Twelve brands were approved to be Chinese Famous Brands last year, which was the highest in 18 years. At present, there were 34 Chinese Famous Brands in the city. A total of 111 brands were approved as Shandong Province’s Famous Brands, bringing the total number of the provincial Famous Brands to 271.

    In 2010, there were 12,414 brands registered in the city, increasing by 81.5 percent compared with 2009. In May, Qingdao became one of the earliest cities in the country to pilot brand strategy. The city will next focus on blue economy incubation, geographic brand registration, brand development, international brand registration and brand protection.

    (Wang Yuanyuan, Liu Fangbin)