Top China Companies in the 2024 Global Fortune 500
The 2024 Olympics has just concluded, with China and the U.S. both securing 40 gold medals. This tie exemplifies the growing influence of China and its ability to compete head-to-head with the U.S. across various arenas, including sports.
In the business world, the equivalent of the Olympics might be the Fortune 500 list. Initially, it was exclusive to U.S. companies, but it has since expanded to a global ranking of the top 500 companies by revenue. What many may not realize is that in 2020, China surpassed the U.S. with more companies on the list. This trend continued for the next two years, solidifying China's dominance.
However, China relinquished its lead in 2023 and 2024 due to a property market crash and slowing growth among its companies. Despite this setback, China still boasts an impressive 133 companies on the 2024 list.
Most Enduring Global Fortune 500 Chinese Companies
Bank of China and COFCO, the latter being China’s largest food and agriculture company, have both maintained their presence on the Global Fortune 500 list for 30 years. Among the top 10 Chinese companies with the longest tenure on the list, most have been there for over 20 years, predominantly comprising banks and industrial giants. This is unsurprising, given China’s role as the world's factory, its substantial energy consumption, and the corresponding rise of its oil and gas companies like Sinopec and CNOOC, which have thrived alongside increasing energy demand. The big four Chinese banks have also demonstrated staying power, capitalizing on China’s economic growth.
Jardine Matheson is a bit of an outlier in this context, as it's based in Hong Kong, domiciled in Bermuda, and its stock trades in London and Singapore—making it not immediately associated with China. However, it holds significant property assets in Mainland China, contributing to its strong presence in the region.
Chinese Newcomers
On the other hand, there are new entrants joining the list. While the established companies bring maturity and stability, these newcomers offer dynamism and higher growth potential for investors. Notably, three companies—PDD, Hangzhou Industrial Investment, and Chery—made the list for the first time.
PDD, in particular, has been making waves globally with its international e-commerce platform, Temu. Its aggressive expansion has yielded impressive results, posing a serious challenge to established e-commerce giants. In China, Pinduoduo has outpaced both Alibaba and JD.com in terms of growth rates, capturing significant market share over the years. Its founder, Colin Huang, recently made headlines as the richest man in China, further spotlighting the company's rapid ascent.
Biggest Advances
Meituan achieved the most significant improvement in ranking, leaping 83 places to #384. As the undisputed leader in food delivery within Mainland China, Meituan has now successfully expanded into Hong Kong under the name KeeTa, where it has captured 43% of the market share, becoming the leader in this new market within just a year.
BYD made the second-largest advance, rising 69 spots to #142. BYD has surpassed Tesla to become the world's top seller of electric vehicles (EVs). Alongside BYD, other EV-related companies such as CATL and Geely also feature among the top 10 biggest advancers, reflecting the rapid growth of the EV industry.
Fastest Growing
The largest advancers in ranking may not necessarily be the fastest-growing stocks. This is because a one-year look-back period might capture a temporary surge rather than a sustainable long-term growth trend. A company might have had an exceptional year with doubled revenue, but maintaining that level of growth moving forward can be challenging. Therefore, we prefer to rank companies based on their revenue CAGR over a five-year period to capture a more reliable long-term trend.
However, the data for this analysis wasn't readily available on the Fortune website, so we compiled it separately. Additionally, not all companies were included in the comparison, as some are privately or wholly state-owned, making them inaccessible to investors.
Based on the remaining publicly listed Chinese companies, we identified the 10 fastest-growing stocks, as shown in the table below:
PDD topped the list, proving its impressive stock returns are well-deserved. Alibaba might come as a surprise to some investors, but despite its beleaguered share price, the company is still fundamentally growing strong. Another e-commerce-related company, S.F. Express, a major parcel delivery service, also made the list. Meituan, another key tech platform in China, secured its spot as well. Overall, these results indicate that China's tech sector is still experiencing rapid growth.
Highest Dividend Yields
This section is tailored for dividend seekers. We ranked the public Chinese companies on the Global Fortune 500 list by their dividend yields.
Investors will likely recognize the financial institutions known for their generous dividends—Ping An Insurance, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China. Also familiar is the oil giant Sinopec (listed as China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation).
A few property-related companies made the list, with high yields primarily due to significantly depressed share prices. These include China National Building Material, Shenzhen Investment, Xiamen C&D, and China Railway Construction. However, these investments come with higher risks, as China's property market has yet to show signs of a turnaround.
The remaining two companies—Xiamen ITG and CITIC—are conglomerates with diverse business portfolios. While they may weather economic cycles better, they often suffer from conglomerate discounts, making it difficult for their share prices to fully reflect their true value. Investors interested in these companies should be comfortable focusing on dividend payouts instead.
Chinese companies may not be well-loved at the moment, but much like in the Olympics, China is competing with the U.S. for the top spot in business as well—and it’s not far behind.