The Middle Kingdom tends to do things on a grand and decisive scale.

The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest power station, tamed Asia's longest river. The once-reclusive communist state is now the world's second largest economy. And already, four of the world's Top 10 companies are Chinese.

Yet China still doesn't have a truly mammoth, global brand. No Apple. No Samsung. No Ikea.

And it needs one. In fact, it needs many, experts say, if it's going to succeed as an economic superpower.

(Read more: Rein: Why Global Brands Fail in China)

"Their [companies'] previous competitive edge — being the cheapest — is increasingly impossible to sustain," argues Jan-Benedict Steenkamp, professor of marketing at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and co-author of "Brand Breakout: How Emerging Market Brands Will Go Global."

"They need to start to add value to the product," he adds. "This is impossible without branding the product."



But how exactly do you build a global brand?

That's the big question that many big Chinese companies are grappling with. It's one task to run a textile factory or build an electronics plant — you need to raise money, hire engineers, manage employees and the like.

(Read more: No Hard Landing for Luxuries in China: Pro)

It's an entirely different and more nebulous challenge to create something as intangible and valuable as a billion-dollar brand that people relate to.