An operator controls the fire fighting robot at a workshop of Anshan Hengye Special Vehicle Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Anshan, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 14, 2020. This new all-terrain fire fighting robot has excellent off-road performance as well as detection and analysis capabilities. (Xinhua/Yao Jianfeng)

A good number of domestic high-tech companies joined the China Brand Day event, the first state-level economic and trade exhibit in the country since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, as Chinese manufacturers strive to improve their brand value.

The event, the fourth China Brand Day promotion, took place as the nation's top brands are becoming increasingly valuable year by year, and the Chinese market is becoming the largest and most competitive one in the world.

This year's brand day event, staged on Sunday in Shanghai in the form of virtual showrooms to avoid public gatherings as the epidemic ebbs, attracted a wide range of domestic technology participants including artificial intelligence (AI) firm SenseTime, cloud computing platform UCloud and China's largest chip foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.

Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday that all entities should foster awareness of brand value, put quality first, give priority to performance and forge more renowned brands.

"Among the displays are big data, cloud computing, new-type display panels, 5G, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, and smart city governance," said Yi Beichen, a veteran tech columnist observing this year's event.

"This year's show has a significant increase in the breadth and depth of the technology and application scenarios from previous years," Yi told the Global Times.

"One of the hallmarks of this year's brand day promotion is young Chinese people's rising passion for domestic brands," Li Guangdou, a branding consultant, told the Global Times.

The brands on show also signaled a structural change. 

Shanghai, for instance, is demonstrating emerging industries with "hard-core" technologies. Dozens of companies from Shanghai are showcasing AI technology, integrated circuits and bio-pharmaceuticals, according to domestic news portal jfdaily.com.

"AI chips, mask aligners, reactive ion etching machines, and high-end medical imaging equipment are mushrooming in Shanghai, and they are filling the gap in vital innovative technologies at home and abroad," the report quoted a local economic planning agency official as saying.

Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, said brand building is a core issue for contemporary Chinese industrial companies as they bid farewell to original equipment manufacturing.

"Devotion to quality, attention to services, and commitment to social responsibility are the weak links for China's industrial firms, and whether enough effort is directed to these issues will affect the degree of success in Chinese companies' overseas expansion," Cong told the Global Times on Sunday. 

China Brand Day was established in May 2017 to boost the global recognition of domestic products, encourage entrepreneurship and craftsmanship, and enhance the quality and variety of Chinese products to meet rising market demand.

A 2019 report by consultancy firm WPP and Kantar said China's top 100 most valuable brands were worth $889.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent with innovators in AI, e-commerce, new retail and social media performing strongly.