Top Biz News

Ranking shows top 500 manufacturers

By Wang Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-21 08:43

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) unveiled China's top 500 manufacturing powers for the first time on Saturday, in a bid to create role models for the country's rapidly developing economy.

Assessing the country's 250,000 enterprises with annual incomes exceeding 5 million yuan (US$625,000), the NBS ranked companies on core business revenues, total assets and number of employees.

The top 500 generate about one third of total revenues and capital, but employ less than 10 per cent of workers, sources from the NBS said.

Most of the top 500 are in just five sectors: Telecommunications, IT and electronics product manufacturing;transportation and communication equipment manufacturing; fertilizer raw material and chemical product manufacturing; ferrous metal smelting & rolling (iron and steel) and textiles.

"The motivation driving us to compile the list is that China's manufacturing sector is crucial, representing the bulk of the country's production forces. Also, China's manufacturing sector is already fully market-oriented," said Liu Fujiang, deputy director-general of the Department of Industry and Transport Statistics of the NBS.

While the top 500 are ahead of the pack domestically, they still have a way to go to match global business giants, Liu pointed out.

In light of the increasingly overheated infrastructure construction at the moment, scientific development should be emphasized and blind corporate development avoided, warned Ou Xinqian, vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.