Home brands ring louder overseas

Even though China's top 10 largest mobile phone exporters were still the international brands such as Apple and Samsung and their original equipment manufacturers, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers - led by TCL, ZTE and Huawei - saw their market share increase by 1.3 percentage points to 7.9 percent in 2014, according to the General Administration of Customs.

TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd came 11th on the list, while Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp were in 13th and 14th place in terms of their export volume.

Xiaomi Corp roared ahead in 2014, with its ranking jumping to 37th place in 2014 from 69th a year earlier. Its export value increased more than nine times last year and the volume of its exported mobile phones shot up almost 20 times year-on-year.