China Top 500 Enterprises 2006 posted total operating revenue of 14.14 trillion yuan (US$1.77 trillion), accounting for 77.6 percent of the gross domestic product.

China Top 500 Enterprises 2006 Analysis Report said here Saturday that the Top 500 reaped combined profits of 642.8 billion yuan (US$80.4 billion) in 2005, up 22 percent year on year.

Sinopec was ranked the first with its operating revenue of up to 823 billion yuan(US$102.9 billion) and profit of 21.9 billion yuan (US$2.7 billion) in 2005, up 29.75 percent and 108 percent respectively over 2004.

The report by China Enterprise Confederation and China Enterprise Directors Association said the proportion between the operating revenue of the Top 500 and the GDP, although not a direct indicator of their contribution to the national wealth, can reflect the important role and influence of the the Top 500 in a great sense.

It rose steadily from 55.7 percent in 2001 to 73.5 percent in 2004.

According to the report, the petrochemical, natural gas extraction, banking and ferrous metals industries represented profits of 31.4 billion yuan(US$3.9 billion) in 2005, accounting for nearly half of the total profits of the Top 500.

The State Grid, the China National Petroleum Corporation, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Mobile ranked the second, third, forth and fifth of the Top 500.

The report said the high profits in the petrochemical and natural gas extraction industries, accounting for 20.6 percent of the Top 500, are contributed by the monopolistic market position, strong demands and price increases.

Meanwhile, the high profit in the banking industry, accounting for 19.6 percent, is resulted from the share-holding reform conducted in recent years.

The profit-generating capacity of the country's enterprises are generally weak. 84 enterprises with profits of over 1 billion yuan (US$125 million) took up 85 percent of the Top 500 in profits.

The average profit growth rate of the Top 500 is 20.14 percent with trade and wholesale, retail, aviation and enginery sectors over 100 percent. 474 enterprises are in profit and 21 are in the red.
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(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2006)