SAIC Motor

SAIC Motor, a leading Shanghai car manufacturer and China’s biggest automaker, has made great strides in the fields of electrification, intelligent and connected vehicles and car-sharing.

Shanghai has become a pilot city for green vehicle promotion and the latest advances in automotive technology. Like SAIC Motor, automakers have to meet the challenge of an ever-changing and competitive market.

SAIC Motor has been on Fortune 500 list for seven consecutive years.

It ranked seventh among global automobile companies with 2019 revenue of US$122.07 billion.

In 2019, the Shanghai-based automaker had sales of 6.2 million vehicles. Annual sales of new-energy vehicles totaled 185,000, a year-on-year increase of 30.4 percent.

SAIC Motor also has achieved a global footprint. The company ranks first among Chinese automakers for overseas sales in more than 60 countries and regions. Last year, its vehicle exports rose 27 percent to 350,000 units, ranking first in China for the fourth consecutive year.

China Baowu Steel Group

State-owned China Baowu Steel Group Corp, commonly known as Baowu, is based in the Pudong New Area.

It rose 38 places in this year’s Fortune Global 500 ranking and, for the first time, ranked at the top of iron and steel companies across the globe with 2019 revenue of US$80 billion.

Its 2019 steel production totaled 95 million tons after the company acquired a 51 percent stake in Masteel Group.

The acquisition also included an indirect controlling stake in listed Maanshan Iron & Steel Co.

Also in 2019, Baowu set itself the
target of leading the world in iron and steel production.

Bank of Communications

Bank of Communications has ranked on the Fortune 500 list for 12 consecutive years, though it dropped 12 places from last year.

The bank has been part of major reforms in the financial sector.

It reported a net profit of 77.2 billion yuan (US$11.14 billion) last year, on assets of nearly 10 trillion yuan.

The bank has been seizing opportunities in regional development, including the Yangtze River Delta area.

It initiated the concept of wealth-management services earlier than other banks. In 2019, BoCom set up and expanded its asset management and fund management subsidiaries. Personal assets under management exceeded 3 trillion yuan by the end of last year.

Bank of Communications has changed top management six times this year, including its chairman and president.

Greenland Holding Group

Since Greenland Holding Group became the first mainland real estate developer to make the Fortune Global 500 list in 2012, the company has been steadily climbing the rankings ladder for nine consecutive years.

The group reported double-digit growth in 2019, with 14.7 million of profit on 427.8 billion yuan of revenue. Its main growth engines include property development and infrastructure construction.

China Pacific Insurance (Group)

China Pacific Insurance (Group) moved up six places on the Fortune Global 500 list from last year. The insurance giant first made the list in 2011.

The company’s life and property and casualty insurance businesses are each the third biggest in China.

China Pacific is benefitting from rapid expansion in the insurance industry nationwide, with increasing investments in health care and elderly care. It has been expanding into new markets and made a US$1.8 billion debut on the London Stock Exchange this June through the London-Shanghai Stock Connect scheme.

Pudong Development Bank

Pudong Development Bank’s ranking on the Fortune Global 500 list lost four places from the previous year. In 2019, the bank celebrated the 20th anniversary of its domestic listing, and reported assets of 7 trillion yuan and operating income of 190.6 billion yuan. Its weighted rate of return on equity, a major profitability indicator, fell 0.85 percentage points.

The bank has been a leader in technology-driven banking. In mid-December, the first robotic employee in the Chinese banking industry, named Xiaopu, made its appearance in a bank branch, helping the lender advance its “smart” operations.

However, asset quality deteriorated in the past year, with the non-performing loans ratio rising 0.13 percentage points to 2.05.

China COSCO Shipping Corp

China COSCO Shipping Corp, a state-owned multinational transportation service and real estate conglomerate, was established in January 2016 by the merger of COSCO and China Shipping.

The merger, which occurred during a downturn in the marine transportation industry, was aimed at achieving economies of scale and was part of a broader effort by the Chinese government to restructure its state-owned shipping sector.

Since 2016, the corporation has jumped 201 places on the Fortune Global 500 list. This year it rose 15 rankings from last year.

This year has been a challenging one for COSCO Shipping due to the coronavirus pandemic. First-half traffic is expected to show a drop of 25 percent, according to maritime analysis firm Sea-Intelligence.

The state-owned construction and engineering company made its debut on the Fortune Global 500 list with 2019 revenue of US$29.7 billion and profit of US$568.9 million.

The company, nicknamed the “hometown builder,” has been involved in 70 percent of major projects in Shanghai every year, including landmarks like Shanghai Tower, the world’s second-tallest building.

Shanghai Construction

Shanghai Construction has broadened its business lines into environment protection. Its current focus is soil remediation and water treatment. It is involved in the city’s largest and most difficult soil and water remediation project, called Taopu 603 Land, in an industrial area of chemical factories.

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals is one of the two Chinese drug companies included in this year’s list.

The company’s main revenue stream is drug distribution, but its manufacturing business has been catching up, with a 21 percent rise in revenue last year to 23.49 billion yuan.

Both its distribution and manufacturing arms came under pressure during the coronavirus pandemic, with first-quarter profit dropping 7.8 percent to 1.04 billion yuan.

The company has been active in researching and introducing new drugs in tandem with overseas partners.

Its controlling shareholder, Shanghai Industrial Investment (Holding) Co, has set up a 50-billion-yuan biopharmaceutical equity investment fund to expedite the search for new drugs. Other new business initiatives include vaccines, online prescription management systems and online diagnosis and consultation platforms.