Nation's most competitive firms listed
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-27 14:23

The nation's premier petrochemical corporation, the China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec Corp), was ranked the most competitive of China's top 1,000 publicly listed companies.

A Report on the Competitiveness of Chinese Enterprises was put together by the Global Competitive Organization (GCO) and the Appraisal Centre of China News Service (CNS). It was released September 26 at the Second China Competitiveness Conference.

It is the second time that the GCO appraises Chinese enterprises and their level of competitiveness, said Sun Zhiguo, an official with the organization's China office.

"After China's entry into the World Trade Organization, its economic circles and enterprises are encouraged to recognize their competitiveness with their foreign counterparts."

Aside from the ranking of listed companies, the top 500 medium and small enterprises were also named.

They range widely from the chemical industry, pharmacy, building materials, food, and metallurgy to electronics, automobile and energy.

According to the ranking, the number of employees in the 500 top firms increased to 325,000 in 2003 from 278,000 a year ago, proving that medium and small enterprises have become a major force in resolving employment and maintaining social stability.

When analyzing its distribution, the enterprises mainly cluster in areas of strong competitiveness, such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong provinces and Shanghai in eastern China.

A great gap in competition still exists between China's eastern and western regions, reports said.

At the same time, a strong momentum in places such as Chongqing, Sichuan and Shanxi provinces is sharpening their competitive edge.

Medium and small enterprises are the nation's most active and competitive groups, said Guo Zhaojin, head of CNS, one of the two major news agencies in China. They are playing an increasing role in maintaining economic growth and alleviating the pressure of job creation.

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