Sinopharm, one of the country's major COVID-19 vaccine developers, is ranked as China's most powerful company for the first time this year by a Shanghai-based university while e-commerce titans Alibaba Group Holding and JD.Com fell out of the top 10.
China National Pharmaceutical Group, also known as Sinopharm, jumped to top the annual list of 500 companies assessed based on their financial performance including revenue, profit, and growth, according to the list released by the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics yesterday. The Beijing-based drugmaker was No. 54 last year.
The state-owned firm's profit and growth have risen over the past two years with a high return on assets and equity. Sinopharm launched China’s very first Covid-19 vaccine onto the market in late 2020 and many of its listed units presented good operating results so the medical giant improved its competitiveness, Jiang Ruochen, a research center director at the university, said to Yicai Global.
Alibaba, which topped the list last year, dropped to slot No. 39 this year. Meanwhile, Beijing-based rival JD.Com is No. 327, down from No. 5. The pair's exit from the top 10 resulted from their declining profitability, per Jiang. In 2021, Alibaba’s net profit was only a third of that of 2020. JD.Com suffered a net loss of around CNY3.5 billion (USD501.1 million) last year.
Tech firms are developing new information technology services to increase their gains but it takes time to turn a profit amid the tight business environment, Jiang said. Still, some are more successful than others. Tencent Holdings, known for games and social media platform WeChat, came in second this year, one slot higher than last year.
The competitiveness index for the top 500 climbed to 97.96 this year, up from 96.69. China’s macroeconomic growth has been impacted by the increasingly complicated international situation and Covid-19 outbreaks, Jiang said. However, the 500 companies are still growing steadily, proving their resilience amid the downward tendency, she concluded.
Source: Yicai Global
