Diversity and innovation lift status of Gree and Huafa

Gree Electric Appliances and Huafa Holdings Group, both located in Zhuhai, moved up 20 and 94 places respectively to rank 121st and 352nd in a report identifying the Top 500 Chinese Companies based on 2017 revenue income.

The China Enterprises Confederation and China Enterprise Directors Association released the list on Sept 2 during the 2018 China Top 500 Enterprises Summit in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province.

2018 China Top 500 Enterprises Summit [Photo courtesy WeChat account: gxwbwx]

Gree Electric Appliances earned 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) in revenue last year. The world's largest air conditioner supplier, headquartered in Qianshan of Xiangzhou District, applied a phased approach to become a global industrial conglomerate. Product scope was expanded to include heating ventilation air conditioning equipment, smart equipment, living appliances, and air energy water heaters. 

Gree industrial robots [Photo courtesy southcn.com]

Meanwhile, revenue for Huafa Holdings, another State-owned giant in Zhuhai, for 2017 was 44.2 billion yuan ($6.9 billion). Originally solely involved in real estate, the company gradually developed more business pillars: urban operations, finance, and industrial investment. Business and modern services support the expansion. Huafa also is the controller of four listed companies. 

Huafa Shopping Mall [Photo courtesy cnhuafag.com]

The State Grid Corp of China tops the list with revenues reaching 2.4 trillion yuan ($376 billion) in 2017, followed by Sinopec Group and China National Petroleum Corp with 2.21 trillion yuan ($346 billion) and 2.2 trillion yuan ($344 billion).

Revenues for China's top 500 companies stood at 71.7 trillion yuan ($11.2 trillion), up 11.2 percent year-on-year; their combined profits climbed 13.28 percent to 3.2 trillion yuan ($500 billion).