A total of 18 Chinese brands entered the list of the 2021 Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, only next to the US and gaps away from the European brands, a report launched on Tuesday shows.

The total value of the 100 brands has grown by 42 percent, four times the average increase in the past 15 years, to reach $7.1 trillion, according to the report.

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd ranked first among global bank and insurance companies for the first time this year, with a brand value of $38.05 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year. Ping An has maintained its position as the top brand in the global insurance industry for six years. In 2020, Ping An achieved operational income of 1.32 trillion yuan and served more than 598 million internet users.

Other Chinese brands on the list include Tencent, Alibaba, TikTok and Pinduoduo.

One of the reasons why Chinese brands keep such a high growth speed in the adverse circumstance is that China's macro economy has seen a steady and strong rebound, and Chinese consumers are optimistic about the future, Wang Xing, global chair of Kantar BrandZ said.

On the other hand, more Chinese enterprises have realized that it's absolutely a priority to shift from Chinese speed to Chinese quality, and continue investing in brand-building even at the most difficult time, she added.

The Kantar BrandZ is one of the world's influential and extensive brand valuation reports, with a specific investigating method combining Bloomberg's market financial data and interview sampling from over 4 million consumers covering 18,000 brands across 51 markets.

Ma Bingying contributed to this story.