What do you mean by "even the elite drives western cars..." Obviously only the elite can buy these. And most Chinese people eat Chinese food, visit Chinese touristic places, read Chinese books, etc. There's only the western movies which could be said to really have no local equivalent.
It's not that China lacks brands, but that it lacks globally aspirational brands. Here's the problem in reverse: do non-Chinese aspire to buy Chinese-designed goods? It has even become increasingly unfashionable in China to wear knock-offs, making the demand for foreign luxury goods even greater. Of course only the elite can afford these items, but when the poor and middle class of today become the elites of tomorrow, what will be any different for them?
