The 2024 Fortune China Top 500 list is released! State Grid ranks first.

On July 25, Fortune Chinese website released the 2024 "Fortune" China 500 list. State Grid Corporation of China topped the list with revenue of 545.9 billion US dollars, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (00386) and Petrochina (00857) ranked second and third on the list, respectively, with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Group ranking fourth. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (01398) ranked fifth, rising one spot from last year. Apple Inc.'s largest OEM, Hon Hai Precision, ranked seventh, dropping two spots from last year, still the top-ranked company from Taiwan, China. Due to Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China (02318) dropping five spots to 14th place compared to last year, there were no mainland private enterprises in the top ten this year. JD.com, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (09618) ranked 13th, becoming the highest-ranking mainland private enterprise. The 500 Chinese companies on the list this year had a total revenue of 14.6 trillion US dollars in 2023, down about 3% compared to the previous year's listed companies; net profit reached 706.4 billion US dollars, a decrease of about 1.5% from the previous year. The annual revenue threshold for companies on the list this year is approximately 3.74 billion US dollars, up about 9% from last year. In US dollars, China's GDP in 2023 reached 17.89 trillion US dollars. The combined revenue of the 500 companies on this year's list exceeds 81% of China's GDP for that year. There were a total of 60 new and returning companies on the list this year, with Hangshi Group ranking the highest among the new entries at 103rd place. Thanks to the tourism boom, Trip.com Group Ltd. Sponsored ADR (09961) returned to the list. The company's revenue grew by 122% in 2023, ranking 351st with revenue exceeding 6.2 billion US dollars. Two leading companies in the new energy sector saw significant jumps in their rankings compared to last year. BYD Company Limited (01211) ranked 40th, up 26 spots from last year. Contemporary Amperex Technology (300750.SZ) ranked 68th, up 18 spots from last year. Representing the new forces in car manufacturing, Li Auto, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (02015) rose 140 spots in the rankings from last year, also turning a profit in the past year. Li Auto, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A saw the largest leap in ranking this time. Following Li Auto, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A, two airline companies - Air China Limited (00753) and CHINA EAST AIR Co., Ltd. (00670) - also saw significant jumps in their rankings, ranking 169th and 191st, respectively. The three major airlines in mainland China and CATHAY PAC AIR (00293) in Hong Kong are emerging from the darkest moments of the pandemic. While mainland's national airlines, Eastern Airlines and Southern Airlines (01055) have not yet turned profitable, they have significantly reduced losses while increasing revenue and climbing the rankings. In terms of profitability, among the top ten most profitable companies on the list, besides five commercial banks and Petrochina, China Mobile Limited (00941), and CNOOC Limited (00883), two private enterprises also entered the top ten in profit, with TSMC ranking fifth with a net profit of 27.35 billion US dollars and Tencent (00700) seeing a 39% year-on-year decrease in net profit in 2023, but still ranking eighth with over 16.2 billion US dollars in net profit. These ten companies accounted for approximately 40% of the total profits of the listed companies last year, totaling 284.7 billion US dollars. In terms of net profit margin, among the top ten companies, three come from the liquor industry: Kweichow Moutai (600519.SH), Luzhou Laojiao (000568.SZ), and Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory (600809.SH), with Kweichow Moutai leading with a profit margin of over 49%. Due to diversified businesses, the highest-ranking company in the beverage industry is Sichuan Yibin Wuliangye Group Co., Ltd., ranking 151st. Ranked third in profit margin is TSMC, with a profit margin of over 39%. Two real estate companies, both headquartered in Hong Kong, also made it to the top ten profit margin rankings: CK ASSET (01113) and SHK PPT Group (00016), with CK ASSET ranking fourth with a profit margin of over 36%, making it the highest-profit margin company among the listed real estate companies. In the top ten in Return on Equity (ROE), three companies also come from the beverage industry: NONGFU SPRING (09633), Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory, and Kweichow Moutai. NONGFU SPRING leads with an ROE of over 42%. HAIDILAO (06862) in the catering service industry ranks second with an ROE of over 39%.ROE ranks second. Internet company PDD Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (PDD.US) ranks tenth with a 32% ROE.In this year's Fortune China 500 list, a total of 57 companies failed to make a profit. Among the top ten companies with losses, there is one chemical company, two automotive companies, and seven real estate companies. The liquidity crisis faced by Chinese real estate companies is a key reason for the industry's continued slowdown. The industry with the most companies on the list this year is the metal products industry, with a total of 55 companies listed and a total revenue of $1.3 trillion. Lastly, it is worth noting that several Chinese internet companies have returned to a growth trajectory: JD.com, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A ranks 13th, up 3 spots from last year; Tencent ranks 38th, up 7 spots from last year; Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR (09988) maintains its position at 21st. Meituan (03690) has risen 35 spots to 99th place. PDD Holdings Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A has jumped 56 spots from last year to 119th place, with profits exceeding $8.4 billion.