On August 2, Fortune magazine released a list of Fortune Global 500 for 2021. State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) ranks second with revenue of USD 386.618 billion, one place higher than its ranking in 2020. It tops the list among China’s companies.

State Grid implements the decisions of the central government, as well as the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). The company serves the establishment of a new development pattern with innovative ideas in the new stage of development, and builds itself into a world-leading energy internet company with Chinese characteristics by highlighting a development paradigm with power grid business(“the body”) coordinated by financial business, international business, supporting business and emerging business(“four wings”). State Grid maintains an active role in promoting the high-quality development of the company and the power grid, and builds a new type of renewable energy dominant power system. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, State Grid maintains safe and stable operation of the power grid, makes new progress in grid construction, improves the “getting electricity” indicator for better business environment, and achieves remarkable results in its international business. It has helped to accomplish the targets and tasks for winning the battle against poverty as scheduled and contributed to eco-social development and energy transition. The company has been graded A by SASAC for seventeen consecutive years with top ranking among the Grade A central state-owned enterprises in terms of patent evaluation, and has ranked first place of the Top 500 Most Valuable Brands in China for six consecutive years.

As a prestigious benchmark for large companies in the world, the influential and authoritative Fortune Global 500 has become an important indicator for world-renowned companies to measure their own strength, size, and international competitiveness. It is published by Fortune magazine on an annual basis.

In the 2021 edition, the total operating income of the Fortune Global 500 fell 5% to USD 31.7 trillion. The threshold (minimum sales revenue) for the rankings declined from USD 25.4 billion to USD 24 billion. Walmart has become the world’s largest company for the eighth year in a row, and Amazon ranks among the top three for the first time. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group), rank fourth and fifth with revenue of USD 283.958 billion and USD 283.728 billion, respectively. This year, Mainland China (including Hong Kong SAR) has ranked top for two consecutive years in terms of the number of companies on the list, hitting 135, an increase of 11 from the previous year. Plus companies in Taiwan, China, a total of 143 Chinese companies are on the list, while a total of 122 American companies are included on the list, an increase of 1 company from the previous year.

Sources: Department of International Cooperation, State Grid News