A launching ceremony of Hunan activities of Brand Promotion tour initiated by the Ministry of Commerce was held on July 27 at Hunan International Convention & Exhibition Center in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan Province.

Vice-Minister of Commerce Liao Xiaoqi, vice-governor of Hunan provincial government He Tongxin and representatives from local enterprises addressed the opening ceremony. Media and local residents also attended the ceremony.

Building and cultivating home-grown prominent brands is an important means to strengthen international competitiveness and national comprehensive power, He said on the ceremony.

The province has decided to support 10 industries with competitive edge, 50 industrial clusters and a great deal of backbone enterprises now. Hunan owns a total of 40,642 effective registered trademarks by the end of 2005.

Taxes turned in by enterprises with famous trademarks in State- or provincial-level accounts for over 50 percent of the total taxes in the province.

There still exists gaps between Hunan and eastern developed Chinese provinces in terms of brand construction and there is a long way to go for implementing brand strategy, according to He.