The China 100

by Business Asia

It got a lot harder to make the China 100 this year. With the economy growing at more than 9 per cent and some auto, steel and telecom companies reporting revenue growth in excess of 30 per cent, it's not surprising that the bar is getting higher.

The last company on last year's list of China's largest publicly traded companies, Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings, had annual revenues of $538.2 million; this year the paper company is gone from the list, and the 100th company, Shenzhen Development Bank (last year's no. 78), reported revenues of $724 million.

But the main reason the competition got tougher is that more state-owned companies went public; making them eligible for the China 100. Two of the biggest, China Life Insurance (no. 5) and the PICC Property & Casualty (no. 7), had successful IPOs last year. China Life's, which raised $3 billion, was the largest in the world in 2003.

The China 100, like the Chinese economy, is still dominated by old-economy giants--oil, steel and auto manufacturers, most of which prospered last year. But the China's future can also be found here: Three of the top ten companies are in telecommunications.

The China 100 list was compiled by the editors of Fortune China in co-operation with Finet Group of Hong Kong and was first published in Fortune China. In compiling the list, Fortune China looked at Chinese companies listed on the stock exchanges in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, London and New York City, The companies are ranked by revenues for the year 2003. Figures were provided by the companies to the relevant stock exchanges and obtained from Bloomberg. Source: Fortune magazine.