List of top 500 Chinese enterprises in 2018 released

On September 2, the 17th annual list of the “Top 500 Chinese Enterprises" was released by the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Entrepreneurs Association in Xi 'an. State Grid Corporation of China topped the list with revenue of 2.4 trillion yuan ($348.4 billion), while Sinopec Group and China National Petroleum Corporation ranked second and third with revenue of 2.21 trillion yuan and 2.20 trillion yuan respectively. The entry threshold for the list this year was 30.7 billion yuan.

Wang Jiming, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and vice-president of the China Enterprise Federation, was specially invited to announce the 2018 Top 500 Chinese Enterprises List and other lists on behalf of the China Enterprise Federation. On the whole, China's big enterprises represented by the enterprises on the list have grasped the opportunities of economic development, continuously promoted innovation and steadily upgraded and continued to develop.

First, operating income growth has accelerated and the economic benefits have continued to improve. China's top 500 enterprises achieved operating income of 71.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.2 percent over the previous year and an increase of 3.6 percent in growth rate. The net profit of shareholders of the parent companies was 3.2 trillion yuan, up 13.3 percent with an increased growth rate of 10.1 percentage points. The number of money-losing enterprises decreased significantly.

Second, structural optimization is deepened, and new types of operations and new business models have emerged. The steel and coal industry has achieved remarkable results in reducing excessive production capacity, and the serious imbalance between financial and real profits has changed. Positive progress has been made in enterprise transformation, and several ecology- oriented Internet enterprises have become new highlights on the list.

Third, research and development input has been greatly increased, and patent quality has been significantly improved. The top 500 Chinese enterprises invested 895.1 billion yuan in research and development, up 21.6 percent. The ratio of R & D investment accounting for the whole investment was 1.56 percent, up 0.11 percentage points. The top 500 enterprises own 956,000 patents, up 29.6 percent from the previous year, of which 346,000 were patents for invention, up 51.7 percent.

Fourth, international status has become more prominent and the transnational operation capacity has steadily improved. One hundred and seven mainland enterprises were shortlisted in the world's top 500 enterprises, maintaining a sustained growth trend. In 2018, China's top 100 multinational corporations' average transnationality index was 15.8 percent, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous year.

For the first time, in 2018 the entry threshold for the top 500 Chinese enterprises exceeds 30 billion yuan, achieving 16 consecutive rises. For the first time, the operating income of the top 500 Chinese enterprises exceeds 7 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 11.20 percent which is slightly faster than the nominal GDP growth rate, and has a more stable relative ratio to the nominal GDP. The total assets of China's top 500 enterprises continue to grow, but the growth rate continues the declining trend noted since the financial crisis.

In addition, the number of enterprises with operating income of 100 billion is 172 and with operating income of 1 trillion is 5. State Grid Corporation of China, Sinopec Group and China National Petroleum Corporation all have operating income of more than 2 trillion yuan, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China State Construction Engineering Corporation have operating income of more than 1 trillion yuan. For the first time, China State Construction Engineering Corporation has operating income of 1 trillion yuan, becoming the first new member of the trillion yuan club in the past three years.

In terms of ownership, the number of private enterprises in the list continues to increase, reaching 237, equaling that of State-owned enterprises. The efficiency and performance indexes of State-owned enterprises partly increased and partly decreased; the efficiency and performance of private enterprises improved significantly, and is better than that of State-owned enterprises as a whole. Within State-owned enterprises, State-owned financial enterprises are better in efficiency and performance, local State-owned enterprises are ahead in per capita operating income and return on assets, while State-owned non-financial enterprises are superior in asset turnover.

From the industry point of view, the number of shortlisted manufacturing enterprises in the 2018 list increased by 5, but the number of shortlisted enterprises in the service industry has also risen, consolidated its dominant position, and the proportion of the operating income of the service industry in the total operating income has further increased. In the subdivided industries, the financial industry has a prominent position, occupying an absolute advantage in many indicators and contributing nearly half of the net profits of all the top 500 Chinese enterprises. The coal industry has achieved outstanding results in reducing excessive production capacity, and the business of the industry has improved in an all-round way. The number of shortlisted companies in the auto industry is generally stable, but the profit margin has declined. Enterprises in the real estate industry have increased, and their contribution to the operating income and net profit of the top 500 enterprises has improved simultaneously.

From the point of view of headquarters distribution, the gap between the shortlisted enterprises in the first and second echelon has narrowed, with Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang adding the most enterprises. Enterprises in the eastern region have continuously increased, and the Yangtze River Delta region has become an important cradle for the growth of China's top 500 enterprises. Benefited from policy support, the enterprises that are along the "Belt and Road" have a higher growth rate in operating income, net profit, efficiency and performance than others. 

To learn more, please click: Full List of Top 500 Chinese Enterprises in 2018