(Yicai) Sept. 21 -- State Grid Corporation of China and oil and gas behemoths PetroChina and China Petroleum and Chemical, also known as Sinopec, had the most revenue of all Chinese businesses last year, according to a new ranking.

Electric utility State Grid ranked first for the third straight year with revenue of CNY3.6 trillion (USD493.2 billion), followed by PetroChina with CNY3.3 trillion and Sinopec with CNY3.2 trillion, the list of the top 500 Chinese enterprises compiled by the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association showed yesterday.

The threshold for making the list climbed for the 21st year in a row to nearly CNY47 billion (USD6.4 billion). The total income of the top 500 companies was CNY108.4 trillion (USD14.9 trillion), up 5.7 percent from a year earlier, while their assets rose 7.3 percent to CNY399.8 trillion.

Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Jiangsu had the most firms on the list among provincial-level regions, with 80, 56, 53, 53, and 42, respectively.

China’s large enterprises have demonstrated strong development resilience, with a more solid innovation-driven development trend and continued enhancement and upgrading of the industrial layout, said Wang Zhongyu, president of the CEC. This came despite a complex and severe global environment and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, he noted.

The number of companies with revenue exceeding CNY100 billion (USD13.7 billion) rose to 254, compared to 244 a year ago, accounting for more than half of the firms on the list for the first time. Sixteen had income of over CNY1 trillion, while China State Construction Engineering boasted revenue of more than CNY2 trillion.

Research and development as a share of revenue hit a record high of 1.85 percent last year among the top 500 firms, up 0.04 percentage point from a year earlier, with Huawei Technologies, Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment, and NetEase making up the top three. Total R&D expenses jumped 9.1 percent to nearly CNY1.6 billion (USD219.2 million).

Some 264 of the top 500 enterprises were in manufacturing, 164 in services, and 72 in other sectors. The number of firms in power and electrical gear manufacturing and communications equipment manufacturing rose, while those in ferrous metals, house building, and residential real estate declined.

The changes in this year's rankings reflect the ongoing enhancement and upgrading of China's industrial structure, Wang pointed out. The ranks of firms in advanced manufacturing and modern services continued to grow, with strategic emerging businesses, including those in new-generation information technology, new materials, clean energy, and new energy vehicles developing rapidly, enhancing their contribution to corporate development, Wang added.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev