JD.com, Alibaba (China) and Hengli Group retained the top three positions, according to the 2026 China Top 500 Private Enterprises list unveiled by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce in Tianjin.
The 28th large-scale private enterprise survey conducted by the federation took in a total of 6,350 companies, each with operating revenue of over one billion yuan in 2025, with the top 500 companies by revenue making up the list.
The survey showed that China’s private enterprises continued to improve their innovation capacity, operating efficiency and core competitiveness, demonstrating an overall trend towards new and higher-quality development.
The top 500 private enterprises reported total operating revenue of 44.93 trillion yuan in 2025, up 4.35 percent.
They also saw a combined net profit of 1.83 trillion yuan, with 17 companies each posting over 20 billion yuan in net profit.
Manufacturing companies on the top 500 list recorded total operating revenue of 32.22 trillion yuan, up 8.73 percent.
The top 500 companies are actively positioning themselves in strategic emerging and future industries.
Of those that provided relevant data, 311 companies invested in 679 strategic emerging industry projects, and 82 launched 112 future industry projects.
In innovation, the top 500 companies that provided relevant data reported total research and development spending of 1.26 trillion yuan, with R&D investment averaging 2.95 percent of revenue.
In addition, they paid 1.3 trillion yuan in taxes last year, with 254 companies each paying over one billion yuan. (Xinhua)
