For the first time, The Kailuan Group has ranked among the Global 500, according to Fortune Magazine’s annual ranking released on July 9.

The group made the 490th spot, with revenue of $22,519.3m.

The Kailuan Group, founded in 1878, is the cradle of China’s coal industry and used to be a typical resource-oriented company focused on coal mining.

So far, three companies from Heibei province, including Kailuan, have made the list. Heibei Iron and Steel Group came 269th, with revenue of $38,722.4m, up 10 places from last year, and Jizhong Energy Group ranked at 330 with revenue of $33,660.8m, up 128 places year-on-year..

Relying too much on coal, Kailuan planned to transform itself in 2002 and made major adjustments to its strategic development in 2008: it endeavored to develop the modern coal chemical industry, modern logistics, cultural and tourism industry, high-end equipment manufacturing industry, energy conservation and environmental protection industry and strategically emerging industries.

The group’s coal resources have increased from billions of tons to 23.2b tons, establishing seven bases in Heibei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Canada. Its annual coal output has increased from 20m tons to 70m tons. Its industrial structure of dependence on coal has been changed to improve its risk resistance capacity - non-coal industries accounted for 78 percent and the company saw a rapid growth in the coal chemical industry, modern logistics, cultural and tourism industry, and high-end equipment manufacturing industry.

The group will continue to forge ahead with the enterprise’s transition with industrial restructuring at the core so that it will take a leading role in the field. By 2015, its output of raw coal will reach 100m tons and clean coal will reach 40m tons with a revenue of more than 250bn yuan. It will also improve its production environment and create a mechanism of regular pay raises for workers.