Daily Lessons from Life 07 September 2009

"China's top 500 firms outperform US rivals in 2008Posted: 07 September 2009 APF

BEIJING: China's top 500 companies outperformed their US counterparts for the first time last year, a survey conducted by a business group has revealed, as the financial crisis wreaked havoc in the United States.

Net profits at the nation's highest-performing firms totalled US$171 billion in 2008, compared to US$99 billion for the US firms, according to the survey by the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC).

The business group has compiled a list of China's top 500 companies, similar to the Fortune 500, since 2002.

The Chinese firms saw their profits fall by 13.2 per cent in 2008 compared to the previous year, according to the survey posted on the CEC's website - still a better performance than the Fortune 500's 85 per cent drop in profits.

The company that topped the list was state-owned giant Sinopec, the largest oil refiner in Asia, with revenue of 1.5 trillion yuan (US$215 billion) in 2008, according to the survey, which was posted at the weekend. Sinopec also made it to the top 10 of the Fortune Global 500, coming in at number nine.

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the nation's largest oil producer, came second with a turnover of 1.3 trillion yuan, and the State Grid Corporation of China followed with 1.1 trillion yuan in revenue. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, ranked fourth on the list with a turnover of 490 billion yuan. The top 34 firms on the list are state-owned entities.

CEC vice-president Wang Jiming said "Chinese enterprises enjoy a good policy and domestic market environment," he was quoted as saying on the website. "But compared to big global companies, they... still lag behind in resource allocation, innovation, international presence, business models and corporate culture." - AFP"

The sign of time. The coming of the Chinese giant corporations. I am happy and glad for Chinese enterprises' progress on the global stage. Bravo! Kudos to the good men and women who made this feat a reality.

More importantly is the observation that these giants have a lot of weaknesses to work on and improve upon. This, if taken positively, means that there are a lot of room for improvement. A lot of room to make progress and create greater benefits for all!!

Lessons for me are:

1. progress up the global 500 list is great feat. A worthy aim for Chinese firms who want to establish a global brand name;

2. at the same time, let this NOT be the ONLY pursuit. Otherwise the signs of being self-congratulatory, self-conceitedness, and narcissism will set in and turn a person from willing to explore improvement opportunities to one who detest anyone who challenge the status quo!;

3. Be honest and work on the areas that need urgent work like: international presence, innovation, corporate culture. Most important corp culture for me is: Corp Integrity extended from Personal Integrity of the Leaders and the Corp Integrity!!

May the giants of Chinese business continue to grow in terms of revenue; and their corp social responsibility charter grows along as well!