Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Xiangzhou-based Gree Electric Appliances, Ninestar, and Huafa Holdings formed a Zhuhai force that entered the list of top 500 Chinese countries released on July 10 by Fortune China.

The ranking, jointly conducted with Wealth Management Department of the China International Capital Corporation, evaluated the global performance of listed Chinese companies in 2017.

Topping the list are Sinopec Group, China National Petroleum Corporation and China State Construction Engineering.

Gree, the world's largest air conditioner supplier, ranked 56th, up 7 places compared to the previous year. The company's revenue and profit in the previous year were 150 billion yuan ($23.5 billion) and 22.4 billion yuan respectively. The desirable business performance is credited to Gree's pursuit of becoming a global industrial conglomerate. Its products range has been expanded from air-conditioning to HVAC equipment, intelligent equipment, living appliances, air energy water heaters, and industrial products.

A robot made by Gree plays piano at the China International Industry Fair in Shanghai on Nov 8 last year. [Photo by Gao Erqiang / China Daily]

Huafa Holdings climbed 81 spots to rank 368th. The State-owned company operates the strategy of diversified management, earning 20 billion yuan in revenue and 1.6 billion yuan in profit last year. It operates numerous projects throughout China and has seized the key markets of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Nanjing.

Ninestar Corporation, a global printing and imaging products leader, made the list for the first time. The company's acquisition of Lexmark International, a renowned American laser printer manufacturer in 2017 is paying off. Ninestar raked revenue of 21.3 billion yuan with a profit of 949 million yuan.

All the listed companies show a positive trend this year with total revenue of 39.65 trillion yuan, an increase of 18.22 percent since 2017. Their total net profit stood at 3.48 trillion yuan, with a growth of 24.24 percent, in contrast with a much smaller 2.2 percent last year.

Ninestar printer manufacturing base in Zhuhai [Photo courtesy WeChat account (ID: irecyclingtimes)]