The profits of China's 500 top businesses rose 23% in 2005 to US$81.4 billion, the China Enterprise Confederation said Monday in a report posted on the group's website. Petrochemical, natural gas exploration, banking and ferrous metals companies accounted for almost half of the total, or US$39.4 billion. Of the 500 companies, 349 were state-owned. Their total reported assets of US$4.9 trillion accounted for 95% of the total assets. The number one company by sales was state-owned China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, which reported revenues of US$103.4 billion, up 30% from a year earlier. Profits climbed 108% to US$2.8 billion despite surging international crude oil prices. The State Power Grid, the country's biggest electricity supplier, was second in the list, followed by China National Petroleum Corp, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Mobile, the country's biggest mobile phone carrier. The 500 companies generated US$1.78 trillion in operating revenues last year, equivalent to 78% of the country's GDP, up from 73.5% in 2004 and 55.7% in 2001.
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