This aerial photo taken on Dec 15, 2023 shows the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Twelve enterprises named in the latest 2023 Hurun Global 500 list released on Wednesday are based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Shenzhen is the cradle for seven of them and the others are located in Hong Kong, Foshan and Guangzhou.
The list of the 500 most valuable non-state-controlled companies in the world was compiled by The Hurun Research Institute. In comparison, the Fortune Global 500 list is ranked by sales, and more than 60 percent of the companies on the Hurun list are not on the Fortune Global 500.
The worst-performing sectors include financial services, telecoms and energy. Financial services have been affected by interest rate rises and global uncertainties; telecoms by the rise in cloud services and instant messaging; energy by a drop in oil prices and oversupply in renewables...
Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman of Hurun Report
Shenzhen-based internet giant Tencent — worth $393 billion, up 48 percent compared with 2022 — topped all Chinese mainland companies included in the list. In the GBA, Hong Kong-based insurance brand AIA Group came a distant second, worth 782 billion yuan ($110 billion).
ALSO READ: China Daily explores cross-border opportunities in the GBA
Electronics manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry, another Shenzhen-headquartered company, is new to the list. Founded in 2004, Luxshare became an Apple supplier in 2011 and has steadily moved up the hardware giant’s value chain, from making connector cables to the latest iPhone 15 series and Apple Vision Pro, an augmented reality headset unveiled in June.
Sun Hung Kai Properties from Hong Kong and fast-fashion retailer Shein from Guangzhou also secured a spot on the list.
READ MORE: Deeper GBA ties: key to green transformation
Meanwhile, some companies in the GBA suffered from a considerable drop in value. The value of Shenzhen-based Huawei declined $56 billion, according to the Hurun list, however the technology heavyweight released new phones with a new homegrown chip shortly after the list’s cut-off date. In addition, Shenzhen’s delivery firm SF Express dropped out of the list.
In general, the total value of all companies in the Global 500 list was up 12 percent to $52.7 trillion. Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, said the increase is mainly on the back of strong gains in software services, semiconductors, media and entertainment.
READ MORE: Survey: HK youths recognition of GBA scales record high
“The worst-performing sectors include financial services, telecoms and energy. Financial services have been affected by interest rate rises and global uncertainties; telecoms by the rise in cloud services and instant messaging; energy by a drop in oil prices and oversupply in renewables,” Hoogewerf added.
What’s worth mentioning is that OpenAI, the US firm that developed the widely popular generative artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT, broke into the Hurun Global 500 for the first time with a valuation of $50 billion.
GBA companies on the 2023 Hurun Global 500
17 Tencent, Shenzhen
106 AIA Group, Hong Kong
120 Ping An Insurance, Shenzhen
127 BYD, Shenzhen
160 Huawei, Shenzhen
230 Shein, Guangzhou
291 Midea, Foshan
301 Mindray Medical, Shenzhen
470 Luxshare Precision, Shenzhen
470 WeBank, Shenzhen
487 Haitian Flavoring & Food, Foshan
487 Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong
