By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-13 09:55

State-owned enterprises (SOEs), once known for chronic losses and low efficiency, now find themselves in the list of the world's most admired companies chosen by Fortune magazine.

China Mobile topped the list of most admired Chinese companies in the world for its outstanding profit-making abilities, talent management and corporate social responsibility.

China Telecommunications, Baosteel Group Corp, China State Construction Engineering Corp and China National Petroleum Corp also figure in the list jointly announced by the magazine and Hay Group, an international consultancy.

The list was based on a survey conducted by Hay Group among 10,000 financial analysts worldwide and the senior management team of 347 multinationals.

The consulting firm also announces the list of most respected companies for all countries every year but didn't offer the full lists for other countries as of yesterday.

Huang Shuhe, vice-minister of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said the list validates China's achievements in SOE reforms.

There are 155 companies directly under the control of the central government and 16 of them have been listed as Fortune 500 companies.