Top China Firms Surpass U.S. in Profit-to-Sales Ratios

HEFEI

The operating revenues of China’s 500 largest firms rose to 41.5% of their U.S. counterparts, according to the China Enterprise Confederation at a forum in Hefei. In 2008 Chinese revenues were only 34% of their U.S. counterparts’ which had fallen 8.7% in 2009 to $9.76 trillion.

China’s top 500 businesses posted $4.05 trillion in operating revenue in 2009, a 6.2% increase over 2008. More importantly, China’s corporate giants surpassed U.S. giants in their profit-to-sales ratio, suggesting a healthier long-term growth trend. China’s giants posted $220.2 billion profits compared with $390.6 billion for their U.S. counterparts in 2009. China’s ratio of profit to sales rose to 5.4%, 35% more than the U.S. ratio of 4%.

China’s biggest firm was Sinopec, a state-run petrochemical company, with $204.4 billion in revenues, about half of the $408.2 billion posted by top U.S. retailer Wal-Mart. State Grid Corporation, PetroChina, China Mobile and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China were the next largest Chinese firms.