Global Times | China's top 500 private firms see steady progress: ACFIC
The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) on Thursday released the 2025 China Top 500 Private Enterprises list, which highlighted the strong growth in scale and steady improvement in quality of China's private sector thanks to the country's robust policy support and high-quality development.
The total operating revenue of the top 500 enterprises reached 43.05 trillion yuan ($6.02 trillion). JD.com, Alibaba (China) Co and Hengli Group Co retained the top three positions on the list for the fourth consecutive year, according to the list. Among them, JD.com reported annual revenue of approximately 1.16 trillion yuan, becoming the first private company in China to surpass the trillion-yuan mark, according to Xinhua.
The ACFIC conducted the 27th survey of large-scale private enterprises, with 6,379 enterprises having operating revenues exceeding 1 billion yuan in 2024 participating. Among them, the top 500 enterprises by operating revenue were listed as the top 500 private enterprises.
Results showed that facing intensified external pressures and increasing internal challenges in a complex and severe environment, China's top 500 private enterprises have steadfastly pursued a path of high-quality development, maintaining an overall trend of steady progress and improvement, with further enhancements in enterprise quality, efficiency and core competitiveness, the ACFIC said.
In 2024, the entry threshold for the top 500 list increased to 27.023 billion yuan. The report showed that there were 105 enterprises with total revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan and 11 enterprises with revenue surpassing 500 billion yuan. Additionally, 29 private enterprises on the list were included in this year's Fortune Global 500 list.
The top 500 private enterprises have actively expanded into strategic emerging industries, with 309 participating enterprises investing in 627 projects, covering key subsectors such as new materials, new energy, next-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new-energy vehicles, and energy conservation and environmental protection, according to the ACFIC.
These enterprises are also accelerating their digital and green transformation. The survey showed that 64.2 percent of them have formulated digital transformation plans, 60.2 percent have implemented digital transformation at the management level, and 66.8 percent have achieved cost reduction and efficiency gains through digital transformation.
Additionally, 83 percent of the companies are advancing green and low-carbon transformation, primarily through measures such as adopting green and low-carbon technologies and equipment, implementing "green + intelligent" upgrades, conducting carbon emissions assessments, and promoting green collaborative development across industrial chains, the ACFIC report showed.
The report also highlighted the resilient overseas businesses of China's top private enterprises. The total export value of participating enterprises reached 1.77 trillion yuan, a 5.17 percent increase, with overseas operating revenue totaling 3.19 trillion yuan, up 14.74 percent.
The top 500 private enterprises reported a total research and development (R&D) expenditure of 1.13 trillion yuan, 1.15 million R&D personnel and an average R&D investment intensity of 2.77 percent. There were 19 enterprises with R&D expenditures exceeding 10 billion yuan, spanning six industries including computers, communications, the internet and automobile manufacturing, the report said.
These 500 enterprises employed a total of 11.09 million people, with an average of 22,200 employees per enterprise. The automobile manufacturing industry had the highest employment, with 1.434 million employees, accounting for 12.93 percent of the total employment of the top 500 private enterprises.
"The report showed that these private enterprises, with their large scale and strong capabilities, have achieved significant technological innovation and enhanced international competitiveness, as the country has introduced a series of supportive policies, creating a favorable policy environment for the development of private enterprises and stimulating their vitality," Wang Peng, associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Among the series of supportive policies for the private economy, the Private Sector Promotion Law, China's first fundamental law dedicated to promoting the private sector, came into effect in May, strengthening legal protections and injecting fresh momentum into a key driver of the world's second-largest economy.
The private economy, with its large scale and rapid development, is a key driver of China's economic growth, while also providing critical support for employment stability, Wang said, noting that private enterprises, with their flexible mechanisms and high market sensitivity, can stimulate market vitality and creativity, thus further advancing the high-quality development of the Chinese economy.