In this article, we will take a detailed look at the20 Most Valuable Chinese Companieswith insights into the market value. For a quick overview please read our article 5Most Valuable Chinese Companies.
China has emerged as a global economic powerhouse in recent decades, boasting the world's second-largest economy and a rapidly growing middle class. China's economic growth has been remarkable, averaging over 9% annually for the past few decades. As a result, more than 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty. Moreover, Chinese companies have also made significant strides, becoming major players in various industries, including technology, manufacturing, and finance. Besides, China has not only achieved remarkable economic growth within its borders but has also been actively investing in overseas infrastructure and development through its Belt and Road Initiative.
According to the IMF, China, unlike other nations at similar levels of development, has experienced remarkable economic growth, consistently exceeding 8% per year since 2000. This sustained expansion has significantly elevated living standards, transforming the country's economic landscape. China's economy is expected to expand by 5.4% in 2023, marking a strong rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, growth is projected to decelerate to 4.6% in 2024, primarily due to ongoing weakness in the real estate market and subdued global demand.
A Look Into the Chinese Businesses
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, internet services, and technology. Alibaba Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) owns and operates several prominent businesses, including Alibaba Marketplace, Taobao, Tmall, Alipay, Alibaba Cloud, and AliExpress. Alibaba Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) is the world's largest e-commerce marketplace, with 24% of global GMV in 2021. It specializes in localization and has the world's largest user count, with 900 million active users, including 100 million buyers.
Moreover, Alibaba Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (NYSE:BABA) significant revamp signals the end of Beijing's regulatory crackdown, boosting shares and investor confidence in Chinese tech firms.
On the other hand, Alibaba Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) faces several challenges, including rising competition from other e-commerce platforms, such as JD.com and Pinduoduo. The company is also facing regulatory scrutiny from the Chinese government. However, $120 billion in TTM revenue, $21.7 billion in cash flow from operations, and $14.2 billion in free cash flow demonstrate the company's strong financial position to grow in the long term. The company has a strong brand, a large customer base, and a leading role in the Chinese e-commerce market.
PetroChina Co Ltd (NYSE:PTR) is a Chinese multinational oil and gas company with diverse businesses, including exploration, production, refining, marketing, and transportation. PetroChina Co Ltd (NYSE:PTR) is the world's second-largest integrated oil and gas company in the world (based on revenue), with production of 906.2 million barrels of crude oil in 2022.
PetroChina Co Ltd (NYSE:PTR) has been a profitable company, with revenue and net profit growing consistently over the past decade. PetroChina's crude throughput declined 1.4% year-on-year in H1, meeting only 47.1% of its annual target. To achieve its full-year target, PetroChina Co Ltd (NYSE:PTR) needs to lift its throughput by 10.6% to 3.65 million b/d in H2. The imminent commissioning of the 400,000 barrels per day (b/d) new Guangdong Petrochemical refinery might contribute to a modest increase in overall throughput.
Another important name in the most successful Chinese companies is China Life Insurance Co Ltd (HKEX:LFC). It is the second-largest insurance company in China and the fourth-largest insurer in the world by market capitalization of $121.07 billion. China Life Insurance Co Ltd (HKEX:LFC) is a state-owned enterprise with a strong presence in the Chinese life insurance market. China Life Insurance Co Ltd (HKEX:LFC) sustained a strong level of profitability, marked by an average 13% return on equity (ROE) from 2019 to 2021 (11% in 2021).
However, a significant 38% year-on-year decline in net profit in the first half of 2022 was primarily due to decreased spread income from available-for-sale stock investments. China Life Insurance Co Ltd (HKEX:LFC) experienced a 13.8% drop in New Business Value (NBV) compared to 1st half of 2021 as it downsized its individual agency business's sales force, leading to a decline in the NBV margin from 36.5% to 30.4%. Despite increased sales of single-pay saving products through bancassurance in response to market demand, the low profit margins associated with these products resulted in insufficient improvement in NBV.
To rank the 20 most valuable Chinese companies, we sourced data from Forbes Global 2000. It is usually a reliable and objective source that uses a transparent methodology to rank companies from a wide range of industries and countries based on four key metrics, i.e. sales, profit, assets and market value. Unfortunately Forbes listed only public companies, which excludes mega-cap Chinese companies like ByteDance that is currently valued at around $300 billion. This valuation would have put ByteDance at #2 spot in our rankings.
In our list, we have listed the 20 most valuable Chinese companies in ascending order of their Market Value.
Below is our list of the 20 most valuable Chinese companies.
20 Most Valuable Chinese Companies
20. China State Construction Engineering (SHA:601668)
Market Value (USD Billion): 41.4
China State Construction (CSCEC) is a leading global construction and engineering group with 8 listed companies and over 100 subsidiaries. In 2021, CSCEC achieved record-high financial results, with a new contract value of RMB 3.53 trillion, total operating revenue of RMB 1.89 trillion, and net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 51.41 billion. CSCEC operates in more than 100 countries and regions worldwide, providing a wide range of services, including investment and development, construction engineering, survey and design, and new business.
China Telecom Corporation Limited (China Telecom) is a leading global integrated intelligent information services operator, providing wireline and mobile communications services, value-added telecommunications services such as Internet access services, and information services. As of December 31, 2022, China Telecom had approximately 391 million mobile subscribers and 181 million wireline broadband subscribers.
Industrial Bank Co., Ltd. (Industrial Bank) was established in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China, in 1988 with a registered capital of 20.774 billion yuan. It was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2007. Starting from Fuzhou, Industrial Bank has expanded its services and explored new markets, adhering to the "customer-oriented" service concept and promoting a layout of multi-channels and multi-markets. Currently, it has 45 tier-one branches (including Hong Kong branches), 2032 branch agencies, and agent bank relationships with more than 1,400 banks worldwide.
Bank of Communications (Bocom), the only state-owned bank headquartered in Shanghai, is one of China's four oldest banks. In 1987, Bocom became China's first state-owned shareholding commercial bank. Recently, Bocom has undergone a strategic transformation to become a global wealth-management bank with wide-ranging financial operations, including insurance, brokerage, trust, and asset management. Bocom saw 1.9% net profit growth in 2023.
China Life Insurance (Group) Company (China Life), headquartered in Beijing, is a leading state-owned financial and insurance company. Founded in 1949 as PICC, China Life was spun off in 1996 and renamed in 1999. Its businesses include life insurance, property and casualty insurance, pension plans, asset management, alternative investment, overseas operations, and e-commerce. China Life has a market capitalization of $103.67 billion.
Midea Group Co., Ltd. (Midea), a China-based household electronics manufacturer and distributor, categorizes its products into consumer appliances, heating, ventilating, air conditioning (HVAC), and robot and automation systems. Midea's Commercial and industrial Solutions revenue grew at a CAGR of 25.9% from 2020 to 2022, increasing its share of total revenue from 18.5% to 25.4% in the first half of 2023.
China Shenhua Energy Co. is seizing the opportunity to build more fossil fuel power plants before 2025. This comes as the government prioritizes energy security after a series of power shortages. The company currently has 11.75 gigawatts of coal and gas generation under construction. It is also reviewing previously postponed and suspended projects to see which can be revived, as well as renovating and expanding existing plants. China Shenhua expects to put all of these new projects into operation by 2025.
BYD Co. Ltd., a publicly listed Chinese conglomerate manufacturing company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, will jointly establish a new state-of-the-art seat assembly factory in Rayong Province, Thailand, with FORVIA, the world's 7th-largest automotive technology supplier. This strategic partnership between BYD, the leading Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, and FORVIA reinforces their global technological alliance and further bolsters their market presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
With a market capitalization of $59.36 billion, Postal Savings Bank of China Co. Ltd. (PSBC), a subsidiary of China Post Group Corp., offers a wide range of banking services, including personal and corporate banking, investment and wealth management, and e-banking. Under personal banking, PSBC offers cards, accounts, loans, foreign exchange, and settlement services. For corporate banking, PSBC provides cash management, trade finance, negotiable instruments, custody, and financial market solutions. Investment and wealth management services include insurance, funds, bonds, and precious metals.
11. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited (HKEX:0338)
Market Value (USD Billion): 114.3
Sinopec is committed to leading the future of the energy and chemical industry with innovation to promote the low-carbon transformation of global energy. The company shoulders its responsibilities to "refuel for a better life" and works with all stakeholders to build a better future. Aramco has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sinopec, covering several areas of potential collaboration in Saudi Arabia.
Bank of China Ltd. (BOC), a subsidiary of Central Huijin Investment Ltd., provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, treasury, investment banking, insurance, and other financial solutions. Demonstrating the growing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China, BOC has opened its first branch in Riyadh. The branch aims to promote the use of the yuan, coinciding with trade agreements between the two countries.
PetroChina, the largest oil and gas producer and distributor in China, is close to signing a $53 billion, 30-year energy agreement with Iraq alongside Exxon Mobil. PetroChina contributes approximately 50% and 60% of China's domestic oil and gas production volume, respectively. It is the publicly listed arm of CNPC, which controls 80.25% of the company. Iraq is close to signing a 30-year, $53-billion energy agreement with Exxon Mobil and PetroChina, expected to generate $400 billion in revenue for Iraq throughout the deal.
CMB, a provider of wholesale and retail banking products and services, raised $105.2B in market cap and $73.1B in revenue in 2022 (up 6.1%). Recently, Cathay Biotech, HBM Healthcare's largest holding, raised RMB 6.6 billion and formed a strategic collaboration with China Merchants Group.
Ping An Insurance Ltd. is an integrated financial conglomerate providing insurance, banking, and investment products and services, with a market cap of $105.88 billion. The company created Ping An Technology in 2008 as a key pillar in its strategic transformation. This division was critical to Ping An Insurance Group's later development into an ecosystem player across five segments.
Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), one of China's four largest state-owned commercial banks, provides retail banking services to its customers. Recently, ABC launched the Belt and Road Agricultural Cooperation and Development Forum, which brings together government officials, experts, and entrepreneurs from countries along the BRI to discuss and share best practices in areas such as agricultural technology, infrastructure, financing, and trade.
