(Yicai) Sept. 12 -- China’s biggest 500 companies outperformed their global counterparts for total profit and revenue growth last year, according to a new ranking.

Combined net profit at China's top 500 businesses jumped 5 percent in 2023, while revenue rose 1.6 percent, the report jointly compiled by the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association showed yesterday. That compared with gains of 2.4 percent and 0.1 percent for the Global 500.

The threshold for Chinese firms making the list climbed for the 22nd straight year to nearly CNY47.4 billion (USD6.7 billion). Their total profit was CNY4.51 trillion (USD633.3 billion) on revenue of CNY110.07 trillion (USD15.3 trillion).

The top 500 US companies performed even better, with their combined profit surging 10 percent last year. Their revenue rose 3.9 percent. 

China's leading 500 showed slower overall growth but stepped up economic efficiency, with innovation-driven development becoming more evident, industrial structure optimization advancing, and development synergy strengthening, said Wang Jiming, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

State Grid Corporation of China and China Petroleum and Chemical, also known as Sinopec, led the pack, reporting revenue of over CNY3 trillion each. Sixteen other Chinese firms had income in excess of CNY1 trillion.

Some 264 of the top 500 companies were manufacturers for the second year in a row, the report showed.

Manufacturing firms contributed just over 52 percent of the 500’s combined revenue last year, while those in the services sector accounted for 46 percent, said Xióng Jijun, China’s industry and information technology vice minister, adding that other industries made up the rest.

Among the country’s tech giants, JD.Com ranked 12th, followed by Alibaba Group Holding at 21st, Huawei Technologies at 30th, and Tencent Holdings at 37th.

According to analysts, tech companies face challenges in offsetting declining income from mature businesses and monetizing their investments in artificial intelligence large language models. Dismantling the "internet wall" is becoming a certainty, so firms must seek growth in more open competition, they added.

Car-making behemoths BYD, Geely Automobile Holdings, and Contemporary Amperex Technology climbed to rank among the top 100 Chinese companies. But those in the steel and chemical sectors mostly reported lower earnings.

Editor: Martin Kadiev