The China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) and the China Enterprise Directors Association (CEDA) jointly released the 2010 List of Top 500 Companies of China in September, 2010. The two organizations have been producing the list for the past nine years, beginning in 2002. Ranking of the companies is determined by their revenues during the previous year.

The ranking aims to promote internationally competitive companies in China with individually-owned intellectual property rights as well as notable brands.

Companies apply on a voluntary basis to be part of the list and intermediary agencies examine the applications. The final ranking is authorized by a committee of experts before its release.

With the rapid development of China's economy and the fast growth of Chinese companies, the threshold for entering the list has been going up year after year since the list's inception. The threshold for those included in the 2010 list is annual revenue of 11.08 billion yuan, compared with that of 2 billion yuan in 2002 and 4.57 billion yuan in 2005.

CEC and CEDA have also been compiling two additional annual lists, Top 500 Manufacturers and Top 500 Service Companies, since 2005.

The three lists released in 2010 include 1,078 large companies in different industrial sectors across China. These companies, at the core of the industrial chain, are the backbone of the nation's economy, and their development status serves as a barometer for the country's economy.