Headquartered in Shenzhen, Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd., also known as China Ping An, has made it into the top 10 of this year’s Forbes Global 2000, which was released Thursday, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
There are 20 Chinese enterprises that have pushed into the top 100, two of which are from Shenzhen, namely, China Ping An and China Merchants Bank. Tencent, Evergrande and Vanke, the three well-known listed Shenzhen companies, entered the top 200, ranking 105, 127 and 133, respectively.
The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2,000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics, namely sales, profits, assets and market value.
According to the list, China Ping An’s revenue amounted to US$141.62 billion in 2017, with profits reaching up to US$13.89 billion and assets reaching US$1.06 trillion.
In the capital market, China Ping An’s market value has also been well recognized. Statistics show that throughout 2017, the company’s stocks in the A-share and H-share markets rose 101.4 percent and 114.1 percent, respectively. Its market value has exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan (US$18.74 billion).
China Merchants Bank ranks 32 on the list, boasting revenue of US$49.94 billion, profits of US$11.02 billion, assets of US$993.73 billion and a market value of US$112.4 billion.
Shenzhen’s financial industry, one of the four pillar industries of the city, increased by 305.998 billion yuan in 2017, an increase of 5.7 percent year on year, accounting for 13.6 percent of the city’s GDP, according to data from the municipal financial services office.
“Shenzhen’s high degree of liberalization and marketization provides the fertile soil for enterprises to prosper, especially private enterprises,” said Liu Junhai, professor from the Law School of Renmin University of China.
According to him, Shenzhen companies like China Ping An, Huawei, Tencent and Vanke are the enterprises that have grown up with the tide of the market economy. During the process, they have developed the ability to survive, develop and expand their own living space.
“Besides, they are study-oriented enterprises. They have a sense of urgency and crisis awareness, and are always striving for innovation,” Liu commented.