TIANJIN, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's top 500 private enterprises are stepping up industrial transformation and innovation, with a growing push into strategic emerging and future industries, the latest industry report shows.
The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) on Tuesday unveiled the 2026 China Top 500 Private Enterprises list and an accompanying research report in Tianjin, north China.
The report said the top 500 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.
This marks the 28th large-scale private enterprise survey conducted by the ACFIC. A total of 6,350 businesses, each with operating revenue of over 1 billion yuan (about 148.22 million U.S. dollars) in 2025, participated in this year's survey. The list includes the top 500 companies by revenue.
According to the survey, in 2025, China's top 500 private enterprises continued to improve their innovation capacity, operating efficiency, and core competitiveness, demonstrating an overall trend toward innovation-driven, higher-quality development.
They generated total operating revenue of 44.93 trillion yuan in 2025, with 110 companies each exceeding 100 billion yuan in revenue.
On innovation, the top 500 companies that provided relevant data reported total R&D spending of 1.26 trillion yuan, with R&D investment averaging 2.95 percent of revenue.
Their R&D personnel totaled over 1.34 million last year. A total of 204 companies saw R&D staff account for more than 10 percent of their workforce, and 16 reported R&D intensity above 10 percent.
China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) devotes a standalone chapter to "building a modern industrial system and consolidating the foundation of the real economy," while identifying "cultivating and expanding emerging and future industries" as a key measure.
In response, China's top 500 private enterprises are leveraging digital, intelligent and green technologies to drive their development.
Some 60.6 percent have formulated strategic plans for digital transformation and AI applications, while 83.4 percent are advancing their green and low-carbon transition through measures such as adopting green and low-carbon technologies and equipment, conducting carbon emission accounting, and carrying out green and intelligent upgrades.
Tianjin-based Rockcheck Group, ranked 72nd on the list, has grown from a traditional steelmaker into a diversified industrial conglomerate spanning steel, hydrogen energy and digital technology.
"We are driving the traditional steel industry toward greener, smarter and more diversified development, while building a presence in strategic emerging and future industries," said Zhang Ronghua, board chair of the group.
Lin Zeyan, secretary-general of the ACFIC, said the structural upgrading of China's top 500 private enterprises will help foster new growth drivers and strengthen the resilience and global competitiveness of industrial and supply chains. ■
