Companies on this year's list were divided into two broad categories: state-owned and private. Among the 500 companies, 225 were state-owned and 275 were private, accounting for 45 percent and 55 percent of the list respectively. The exclusion of foreign-funded companies from the list didn’t produce a substantial rise in the number of state-owned companies, suggesting that the phenomena called "guojinmintui"(國進民退), or "state-owned companies advance while private companies recede" doesn't exist.

1. Scale comparison between state-owned companies and private companies

For the first time, private companies outnumbered state-owned companies on the list, but SOEs' scale was far larger. The 225 state-owned companies on the list generated a combined 9158.013 billion in revenue, or 69.25 percent of the aggregate of 500 companies, pulled down a combined 317.539 billion yuan in profits, accounting for 60.55 percent of the total; had a combined 10,719.465 billion yuan in asset, 78.34 percent of the aggregate; and paid a combined 872.548 billion yuan in tax, accounting for 85.45 percent of the total. In contrast, 275 state-owned companies generated a combined 4065.960 billion in revenue, or 30.75 percent of the 500 companies' total, earning a combined 206.914 billion yuan in profits, accounting for 39.45 percent of the total. Private companies had a combined 2,963.729 billion yuan in asset, 21.66 percent of the aggregate, and paid a combined 148.557 billion yuan in tax, accounting for 14.55 percent of the total. See Table 2-5 and 2-6 for details.

Table 2-5. Major indicators of China's top 500 manufacturing companies by ownership

 

 

 

Table 2-6. Percentage major indicators of China's top 500 manufacturing companies by ownership 

 

2. Efficiency and performance comparison

By measure of economic benefit and efficiency, state-owned companies have an advantage of larger scale over private companies, but lagged behind them in performance and efficiency. Table 2-7 compares state-owned manufacturing companies to private ones in term of performance and efficiency.

The data in the table 2-7 shows that the state-owned companies were larger than private ones in scale, but far less efficient than the latter. The situation cannot be changed in a short period due to institutional issues which lingers as a legacy of China's past planned economy.

Table 2-7. Earnings and efficiency of 2010 China's manufacturing companies by ownership 

 

Summary	Report on Top 500 Manufacturers of China in 2010
Chapter I.	Scale and Distribution Features
Chapter II.	Performance Features
Chapter III.	Industrial Structure and Distribution
Chapter IV.	Regional Distribution
Chapter VI.	R&D Expenditure
Chapter VII.	Major Problems