A customer enters the new Apple store, which is the world's largest, on its opening day at Covent Garden in London August 7, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

Apple tops this year's World Brand Lab's annual list of the World's 500 Most Influential Brands for 2016.

The 13th World's 500 Most Influential Brands, compiled by New York-based consultancy World Brand Lab, was released on December 26.

Google and Amazon ranked second and third respectively.

Thirty-six Chinese brands have made it onto the list this year.

Among them, eight are in the top 100, including the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Tencent, China Central Television (CCTV), Haier, China Mobile, Huawei and Lenovo.

The 500 brands come from 28 different countries, among which nearly half, 227, are from the United States.

They come mostly from 50 different industries including food and beverage, automobiles and auto components, media, retail, energy and the Internet.

American brands such as Chipotle, Texas Instruments and General Dynamics are on the list for the first time.

New Chinese firms on the list include Vanke, China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) and China Taiping Insurance.

Those making the World's 500 Most Influential Brands list are selected on a criteria based on market share, brand loyalty and global leadership.