BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen Chinese brands were listed among the world's top 500 brands in 2008, the World Brand Lab, compiler of the list, announced in Beijing on Sunday.

    China National Petroleum Corporation, China Merchants Bank and Tsinghua Tongfang were three newcomers into the list, while 12 Chinese brands retained their position from the previous year.

    The 12 brands include Haier, Lenovo, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, State Grid, Bank of China, China Life, Changhong, China Railway Group, Air China and Sinopec.

    In the 2008 list, China ranked the seventh in terms of the number of listed brands, moving up one place from last year. The United States saw the most number of 243 listed brands, followed by France and Japan.

    Harvard University was appraised to be this year's most influential brand. Coco-Cola and Citigroup took the second and third respectively.

    Among the top 500 brands, the University of Oxford had the longest history of 912 years.

    Chaired by Robert Mundell, 1999 Nobel Prize laureate in economics, the World Brand Lab ranked the top 500 brands according to their market shares, brand loyalty and global leadership.