China's State Council has designated a 'Chinese Brands Day' to be held on 10 May each year, according to a statement approved on 24 April and made public last week.
Xinhua reports that the decision was made in response to a request filed by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.
While there was no official explanation for the selection of 10 May, we're guessing the plan was set in place after a 2014 speech made by Xi Jinping on the same date calling for China's 'products' to advance to 'brands'.
We weren't given much time to prepare, but in order to heed the propaganda summons, we decided to showcase some century-old Chinese brands you might not know about. A total of 1,128 such brands, known as "laozihao (老字号)" in Chinese, exist, according to China's Ministry Of Commerce. They average about 160 years old, with more than 60 percent engaged in pharmaceuticals and food.