Several Chinese companies feature among the world's strongest and fastest growing brands listed by British consultancy Brand Finance's "Global 500 2022" report that was published on January 26.

The report names the messaging and calling application WeChat as the world's strongest brand and the social networking service Douyin, or its international version TikTok, the fastest growing.

WeChat, a multi-purpose app developed by China's internet and technology company Tencent, retains the title for the second consecutive year, as it "plays an integral part in day-to-day life in China, with its all-encompassing set of services allowing customers to message, video call, order food and shop," the Brand Finance report said.

Listed 18th among the world's top 500 most valuable brands is the video platform TikTok, or its Chinese sister app Douyin. The rise of this new entrant is a "testament to how media consumption is changing," the report noted.

"With its offering of easily digestible and entertaining content, the app's popularity spread across the globe," the report added. "It also acted as a creative outlet and provided a way for people to connect during the lockdown."

Chinese automobile brands have also "made great strides and bucked the global trend of negative growth in the sector," the report said, adding that BYD, China's leading new-energy vehicle manufacturer, is the fastest growing brand in the sector with a 100-percent increase in brand value.

The tech sector is once again the most valuable, the report said. Huawei, the leading global provider of information and communications technology infrastructure and smart devices, reclaimed its place among the world's top ten most valuable brands as it has been "heavily stepping up investment in both domestic technology companies and R&D (research and development), as well as turning its focus to cloud services."