Shanghai firms lack a sense of brand building, a trend that industry analysts say will hinder their growth in a competitive world.

　　Just nine local brands are included in an official list of China's well-known trademarks compiled by the Ministry of Commerce.

　　"Brand is a company's lifeline," said Wu Qihua, an analysts with Hemoo Investment and Business Consulting Co. "Shanghai companies should pay close attention to improving their reputation."

　　In comparison, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces are home to more than 10 well-known brands each. Fifteen companies in Zhejiang Province's Ningbo City have made the list with 118 renowned brands.

　　Shanghai is suffering intangible but great losses in its manufacturing sectors because of poor branding, analysts say.

　　Once the country's economic engine, Shanghai was home to China's top 10 brands in 1990.

　　In 2001, 30 Shanghai-made products were awarded special government recognition for their powerful branding.

　　The deterioration of name recognition is not necessarily the result of a decline in the quality of goods made in the city. Rather, companies seem to be more focused on selling products than dreaming up ways to win government-authorized awards.

　　"Some companies just don't care about their image," said an official with the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau who declined to be identified. "It is really dreadful."

　　For many years, Shanghai-made products were considered among the best in the country. To encourage local manufacturers to produce better quality goods, the city's industrial and commercial administration began in 1997 compiling a List of Shanghai Renowned Brands.

　　Qualified local brands, after undergoing vigorous tests, would be certified or rejected by the administrative bureau.

　　The system is conducted on a voluntary basis.

　　To date, 235 brands have obtained certification, covering traditional industrial as well as agricultural and cultural products.

　　Certified brands are required to reapply every three years to ensure high standards.

　　However, nine of 87 renowned brands which were supposed to apply again this year failed to do so.

　　"The certification of well-known brands may be of symbolic value only," said Hemoo's Wu. "But it signals that some local firms are not doing much to promote their products."

　　Most of Shanghai's highly regarded companies are state-owned.

　　Meanwhile, foreign-funded and privately owned companies are starting to turn their attention to the branding title, the industrial and commercial administration bureau says.

　　Among the 92 new appliers this year, 49 are either Sino-foreign joint ventures or private firms, accounting for 53 percent of the total.

　　Among new applicants, some were previously based in neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, but have moved their headquarters to Shanghai.

　　Only 10 percent of exports from Shanghai are generated by local companies. The percentage is further declining as more firms from Zhejiang and Jiangsu are winning overseas orders.