Before China started opening up its economy in the late 1970s, all companies were owned by the state. That percentage has been declining over the years, but state-owned firms are still expected to play an influential role in the economy for years to come.
According to a recent study conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, almost 70% of China’s equity market is comprised of state-owned entities. By comparison, Russia, the runner-up, has 48% of its equities in SOEs; India and Brazil have 21% and 18% respectively. China claimed 69 of the companies on Fortune’s Global 500 list in 2012. Almost all of them, 64 to be exact, were state-owned.
To further break down the list, all 3 Chinese companies in the top 10 list are players in the energy sector. And exactly half of those ranked from 11 to 100 are state-owned banks.
Source: CCTV
