China’s top 500 enterprises posted steady performance last year with rising revenue and a greater focus on innovation, an industrial ranking report showed Wednesday.

The 2024 list of the top 500 Chinese enterprises was published by the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association.

The 500 largest companies generated combined revenues of 110.07 trillion yuan (US$15.46 trillion) in 2023, up 1.58 percent year on year. Their net profits totaled 4.51 trillion yuan last year, up 5.01 percent from one year earlier.

Wang Jiming, vice president of the CEC said China’s top 500 enterprises outperformed the Fortune Global 500 companies in both revenue and profit growth during the cited period.

Companies on this year’s Fortune Global 500 list saw their revenue rise 0.1 percent and profits up 2 percent year on year in 2023, according to figures released last month.

Wang, also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that the revenue threshold for entry on the list of top 500 Chinese enterprises has increased for 22 consecutive years, reaching 47.38 billion yuan this year, an increase of 383 million yuan over the previous year.

Wednesday’s data also showed that the average research and development intensity of top 500 Chinese enterprises has increased for the seventh consecutive year. Their total R&D spending accounted for 1.9 percent of the combined revenue, the highest level since 2002.

Additionally, the list featured a growing number of companies from advanced manufacturing and modern services sectors, underscoring their role in driving China’s economic transformation.

A total of 31 companies from sectors of new energy equipment manufacturing, power and energy storage batteries, communication equipment and computer manufacturing, and semiconductor and panel manufacturing were included in this year’s list, an increase of 18 companies over the past five years.