Top companies should adapt to slower growth: experts

KUNMING -- Experts believe large Chinese enterprises must adapt to slower economic growth after new data revealed that the country's top 500 companies saw shrinking revenue growth last year.

The 2013 edition of the Top 500 Chinese Enterprises list was unveiled at a press conference on Saturday, with China's oil giant Sinopec Group topping the list for a ninth year.

The list was compiled by the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association based on the 2012 revenues of Chinese companies.

Sinopec Group took the lead for a ninth year with total revenues of 2.83 trillion yuan ($58.6 billion) in 2012, according to a press release.

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 10: State Grid, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Mobile, China State Construction and China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

A total of 123 companies, including 16 private enterprises, reported revenues of more than 100 billion yuan last year, up from 107 companies a year earlier.

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

However, the growth rate was 12.22 percentage points lower than that of the previous year amid a faltering world economic recovery, the release said.

Total profits of the 500 companies edged up 3.58 percent from the previous year to 2.17 trillion yuan last year, while the profit-revenue ratio dropped for the second year by 0.33 percentage points to 4.34 percent.

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,according to the press release.