Mainland companies on the list of the World's Top 500 companies played a more prominent role based on the number on the list, their ranks and their total revenue and profit in 2010.

 

1. The number of mainland companies on the list reached 43, nine more compared than the previous year.

There are 54 Chinese companies in the Top 500, with 43 from the Chinese mainland, eight from Taiwan and three from Hong Kong. Despite the international financial crisis, the top 500 Chinese companies kept the trend of joining the Fortune Top 500 Companies, recording the largest increase ever. Among them, Huawei Technologies and Sha Gang Group joined the list as outstanding representatives of private hi-tech companies and traditional companies, respectively. China Ocean Shipping Group failed to keep its presence in the list in 2010. Meanwhile, 10 Chinese companies entered the list for the first time: Dongfeng Motor, China North Industries (Group) Corporation, Shenhua Group, China People's Insurance Company, Ping An Insurance, China Resources Corporation, Huawei Technologies, China Datang Corporation, Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corporation and China Guodian Corporation. See Table 5-1 for details.

Table 5-1. Mainland companies in the World's Top 500 Companies in 2010

 

Note: Exchange rate for U.S. dollar to Chinese yuan is 1:6.8311.

 

2. The majority of mainland companies made great progress in their rankings.

Among the 43 mainland companies on the list, three of them were among the top 10, with Sinopec seventh, State Grid eighth and China Petroleum 10th.

Particularly gratifying, all the Chinese companies on the list, except for three, improved their rankings dramatically (the three are Sinochem Group, Baosteel Group and China Minmetals). China South Industries Group climbed to 153 in the ranking. China Railway Group Limited, China Railway Construction, China Construction Group, SAIC, China Communications Construction Group, CITIC Group, Sinochem, China Communications Construction, China FAW Group and China Huaneng Group all climbed more than 100 places in their rankings.

3. Mainland companies on the list further rise in shares from 2009, and overall performances are better than the average of the World's Top 500 Companies.

The 43 Mainland companies on the list made operating revenue of US$1.865.39 trillion (exchange rate for U.S. dollar is 1:6.8311, the same below), accounting for 8.1 percent of the total and 1.9 percent higher than the previous year. Their profit hit US$119.06 billion. In terms of profitability, Chinese companies realized on average an eye-catching 10.68 percent of return on net assets, while the average figure for the World's Top 500 Companies was only 8.16 percent.

Chinese companies' share of total profit increased to 12.4 percent, 0.3 percent higher than the previous year and far higher than the share of the operating revenue. As is shown in Table 5-2, ICBC and China Construction Bank were among the world's top 10 most profitable companies. 

Table 5-2. Top 10 most profitable companies on the list of the 2010 World's Top 500 Companies

 

4. Mainland companies listed significant increases in operating revenue with no obvious advantages in terms of average size.

Both the U.S. and France had fewer companies on the list compared with the previous year, but their operating revenue took up a larger part of the total. Japanese and British companies increased both in quantity and the proportion of their operating revenue. German companies showed a slight decline in both sectors.

Compared with the previous year, the number of mainland companies joining the list as well as their proportion of operating revenue both increased significantly. Mainland companies on the list outnumbered French, German and British ones and took third place following the U.S. and Japan. Their proportion of operating revenue surpassed the UK but was lower than the U.S, Japan, France and Germany. See Table 5-3 for details.

In terms of the average size, Chinese companies had no obvious advantages. The average operating revenue of U.S. companies was US$50.19 billion; of Japanese companies, US$41.43 billion; of French companies, US$53.48 billion; of German companies, US$50.82 billion; and of British companies, US$53.72 billion. The average operating revenue of Chinese companies was US$43.4 billion, only higher than Japan. 

Table 5-3. World's Top 500 Companies in major economies

  

Chapter II.

China Top 500 vs. Global Top 500