With over $ 458 billion revenue, China’s state-owned oil firm Sinopec topped the ‘500 Chinese Enterprises list’ this year, even as profits of most firms showed a declining trend owing to global economic downturn.

Sinopec Group headed the list for the ninth year with total revenues of 2.83 trillion yuan ($ 458.6 billion) in 2012.

The list was compiled by the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association based on last year’s revenues, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

China National Petroleum Corporation, the parent company of China’s top oil and gas producer PetroChina, followed closely in second place with revenues reaching 2.68 trillion yuan last year.

The two were joined by eight other state-owned companies to dominate the top ten positions.

As many as 123 companies, including 16 private enterprises, reported revenues of more than 100 billion yuan last year, as compared to 107 companies a year earlier.

Revenues of the list’s last-ranked company stood at 19.87 billion yuan, up 13.48 per cent from a year earlier, it said.

The top 500 companies had combined revenue of 50.02 trillion yuan in 2012, up 11.41 per cent from a year earlier.

However, the growth rate was 12.22 per cent lower than that of the previous year amid a faltering world economic recovery, the report said.

Among the 500 companies, 216 saw declines in net profits in 2012, while 43 others suffered losses, up from 13 companies in the previous year, it said.

Published on August 31, 2013