Chinese consumers generally prefer buying local brands over foreign competitors in most sectors including food and beverages, home appliances and healthcare because of relatively lower prices, sound services and a combination of development trends and traditions, a survey conducted by the Global Times Research Center and DATA100 showed on Sunday.

An expert said that more local brands are being recognized by Chinese domestic consumers and also go global in 2025, as the country's consumption market continues to expand and open up.

Conducted from March 5-9, the survey interviewed 1,322 respondents from 12 major cities across the country. More than 50 percent of the respondents were inclined to buy domestic brands for a wide variety of products from food and beverages to home appliances and clothes.

By contrast, 43.6 percent of the respondents prefer foreign cars, compared with 26.6 percent who prefer domestic brands. As for cosmetics and skin care, those who prefer foreign brands outnumbered those who love local brands by a margin of 4.5 percentage points at 34.6 percent.

Although almost half of the respondents said that foreign brands offer good quality, approximately 63 percent of them think foreign products are expensive.

In contrast, about 43 percent of the respondents believe local brands offer good quality and relatively lower prices, while nearly 70 percent of the respondents - especially younger ones - think that local brands' combination of modern fashion elements with traditional Chinese culture increases their willingness to purchase.

The rise of local brands reflects the transformation of the domestic consumer market along with the upgrade of the country's manufacturing industry, Yan Qiang, a partner with Beijing-based Hejun Consulting, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"About 10 years ago, most of the home appliances we use were foreign brands like Samsung and Panasonic, but now domestic brands such as Midea, TCL and Changhong can meet people's needs at every price," Yan said. He said that the country's new electric-vehicle makers like BYD and Xpeng are growing very fast and Chinese consumers would shift to domestic car brands soon.

In a large market of 1.4 billion people and per capita GDP exceeding $10,000, foreign brands are making strategic adjustments to adapt to the potential and diversified market, underscoring the importance of the Chinese market for foreign brands.

For example, Apple Inc launched a special edition version of the AirPods Pro that features an Ox icon in celebration of the Year of the Ox, with only 25,400 sets available.

"Given China's consumption potential, improved industry and supply chains as well as increasing manufacturing efficiency, this is the best era for the development of local brands," Yan said, noting that more Chinese brands will be able to compete with foreign brands by 2025.