China’s top-500 list of private firms is missing some big names, as profits fell and property developers tanked
- Eight more private developers fall off top-500 list, including Country Garden, and an e-commerce giant retains the No 1 spot
- Semi-official list by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce comes as Beijing is hoping private businesses can once again drive economic growth
China’s de facto chamber of commerce – which acts as a bridge between private firms and Beijing – has released its list of the nation’s top-500 private enterprises, and it shows how former titans of industry were dethroned amid plunging profits and investments in the waning months of the pandemic.
The annual rankings, compiled by the government-backed All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, also help illustrate just how badly the country’s crisis-plagued property developers have been hit.
Large private developers lost a combined 35.56 billion yuan (US$4.88 billion) last year, and only 17 made this year’s top-500 list, compared with 25 last year. One of the most debt-laden developers, Evergrande, has been off the list since 2021.
The semi-official list’s release comes amid a spate of subpar economic data, weakened investor confidence and policy uncertainties in the rapidly changing landscape of the world’s second-largest economy.
Coming in at No 1 on the list, e-commerce giant JD.com posted operating revenue of 1.05 trillion yuan (US$144 billion) last year – a 9.9 per cent increase from 2021. At No 2 is Alibaba, which owns the Post, and at No 3 is petrochemical giant Hengli.
Notable stand-outs that did not participate in the annual assessment include tech giant Huawei Technologies, which faces sanctions from the US and had ranked fifth in 2021, as well as financial services provider Ping An Insurance and struggling developer Country Garden.