The paper analyzes rebranding strategies in the Chinese market. The rebranding strategy is interpreted as a process that reduces cultural distances and creates new identities by activating processes of brand knowledge generation that can impact on brand performance. On the basis of this prospective we investigate how Italian multinational companies, marked by high brand awareness in the domestic market, redefine their brand identity in contemporary China. In particular we propose to study how cultural distance drives rebranding strategies and what rebranding actions increase brand knowledge with positive repercussions on brand performance. The cases studied are Ducati, Pirelli and Ferrero, whose managers were interviewed in their Shanghai headquarters. The research methodology is based on case analysis.