Numbers are not that common in Chinese brands but they do exist in brands such as 'Beijing 2008' or the Chinese liberation army's Ǝ-1'. In those cases they represent a date or a year, but they can also represent branded addresses such as Ɖ on the bund', or lucky numbers like 鰿 pharmaceuticals'. However, the most interesting way to use numbers in brands is to express words resembling or homonymous to the chosen numbers, for instance 5 (wo/wu) for 'I, nothing, dance', 1 (yao,yi) for 'want, medicine' and 9 (jiu) for 'longevity, wine' etc...

Numbers are not that common in Chinese brands but they do exist in brands such as 'Beijing 2008' or the Chinese liberation army's Ǝ-1'. In those cases they represent a date or a year, but they can also represent branded addresses such as Ɖ on the bund', or lucky numbers like 鰿 pharmaceuticals'. However, the most interesting way to use numbers in brands is to express words resembling or homonymous to the chosen numbers, for instance 5 (wo/wu) for 'I, nothing, dance', 1 (yao,yi) for 'want, medicine' and 9 (jiu) for 'longevity, wine' etc. This type of transcription has been very popular in the Internet world, website addresses or other places where Chinese characters cannot be used, for example in www.51job.com.cn 'Iwantjob.com' a recruiting website, or different versions of 168 'prosperous all the way' as in www.china168.com and www.chaoshi168.com. 
There are also a few examples outside the virtual world of this kind of use of numbers such as the Shanghainese bar ྞ' (bar). 

This technique is very effective way to create an easy to remember brand, and at the same time enables the company to convey ingeniously a positive message. While it can be a great opportunity, it also often creates a challenge for foreign brands that contain numbers. They need to make sure that the numbers included in their brand do not carry any negative associations and pronunciations, and in the meantime be aware of the numerological implications that they might carry. 

(Labbrand research) 

More worldwide Chinese brands 

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) reported that Chinese companies registered during 2005 1,334 worldwide trademarks, according to the Madrid agreement. It represents a 31.4% increase from 2004, and accounts for 4% of the total worldwide trademarks registered last year. Worldwide leader is Germany with 17.3% of all worldwide trademarks registered in 2005. It is one of the many signs that the new wave of Chinese brands are aiming to reach abroad. On the other hand, foreign companies last year registered more then 13,000 trademarks locally in China. 

One of the Chinese brands reaching out abroad is the wine manufacturer Dragon Seal who signed a 10 year distribution contract with French liquor company Camus for exposure in 50 of their 4,000 taxfree stores worldwide. Camus who is also helping cigarette manufacturer Chunghwa launch a new Cognac called Chunghwa Cognac. Two new Chinese brands set out to conquer to world. 

(Source WIPO and China Daily) 

Brand value of China increasing 

The reaction to the publications of allegedly anti-Islamic drawings in a Danish newspaper and the following boycott of Danish goods in several Muslim countries has shed new light to the notion of nation branding. In its annual report 'How the world sees the world', GMIs Anholt nation branding index is ranking China as the 19th nation overall among the 35 nations compared over 6 different criteria; export, governance, investment & immigration, culture & heritage, people and tourism. China had the highest rating as 4th in sub-criteria sports, 5th in science and technology and 7th in Culture and heritage. China is climbing steadily on list and is ranking higher then other large countries like India, Russia, South Korea, Brazil and Indonesia. This year United Kingdom claimed the first place but United States holds the world most valuable nations brand with an estimated worth of US$ Bn 417,893 or about 1.5 times its GDP. 

(Source GMI) 

886 bye bye le!