As Olympic athletes from various countries compete for gold and silver medals, the latest rankings in the business world are also released simultaneously. What are the new changes in this year's "Fortune Global 500"?
On August 5th, Fortune China released the 2024 Fortune Global 500 list, with 128 companies from mainland China (including Hong Kong) and 5 companies from Taiwan on the list.
This year, the number of companies from China on the list is second only to the United States (139), and Japan ranks third in terms of the number of companies on the list. According to Fortune China, as of today, the United States, China, and Japan have contributed two-thirds of the companies, revenue, and profits to the list.
The Daily Economic News reporter learned that the total revenue of the companies on the list this year is about 41 trillion US dollars, equivalent to one-third of the global GDP. Among them, Wal Mart has become the world's largest company for the 11th consecutive year, ranking first in the list of the world's top 500, and its total revenue in fiscal year 2024 is up to 648.1 billion dollars. Amazon remains in second place, and the e-commerce retail industry giant still holds an unshakable position on the ranking list.
Focusing on the performance of Chinese listed companies, a major trend worth noting is the overall rise of large companies in the Internet field. Among the five Internet giants in China, except Alibaba, which dropped two places in the ranking, JD, Tencent and Meituan all rose in the ranking. At the same time, Pinduoduo, whose performance has increased dramatically since last year, was listed for the first time.
In the postal and express delivery fields closely related to e-commerce, a total of 8 companies were shortlisted this year. Among them, China Post has entered the top 100 for five consecutive years; Private express delivery company SF Express has also been shortlisted for three consecutive years, ranking 415th this year.
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The top two in China's Internet industry are still occupied by JD Group and Alibaba Group. In addition, Pinduoduo's debut on the list shows a clear trend of consumer recovery in 2023, and the Chinese e-commerce retail market is also heating up accordingly.
In terms of specific ranking, JD Group ranks 47th, entering the top 50 for the first time and replacing Ping An as the largest private company in mainland China; Alibaba Group has dropped two places to rank 70th. Tencent's revenue in 2023 is 86 billion US dollars, ranking 141st; Meituan has become the Chinese company with the highest ranking improvement on the list, jumping 83 places to rank 384th.
JD Group ranked first in the domestic Internet industry for a second time, and it has also been among the world's top 500 for nine consecutive years. According to the Fortune ranking, JD Group's revenue for 2023 is $153.2 billion.
On the one hand, this is due to the recovery of the online and offline consumption world, which has created a certain degree of increase in JD's transaction volume, sales revenue, etc. On the other hand, JD's long-term investment in the underlying supply chain infrastructure has also become an important guarantee for its relative recovery.
According to a set of data obtained by the Daily Economic News reporter from JD.com, as of the end of 2023, JD's supply chain infrastructure assets will reach 153.8 billion yuan. In terms of enterprise size and scale, JD's total human resources expenditure in 2023 reached 104.7 billion yuan, creating employment opportunities for nearly 620000 people.
In addition, since the technological transformation in 2017, JD.com has invested nearly 130 billion yuan in technology research and development to date. Prior to this year's 618 shopping festival, Liu Qiangdong's digital persona "Caizhudongge" further fueled the popularity of JD Cloud's "Yanxi Digital persona".
Meituan, which jumped 83 places in the ranking, did indeed achieve comprehensive growth in 2023.
According to Meituan's 2023 performance data, its annual revenue was 276.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26%. Meituan's core business is local commerce, with revenue growth of 29% to 206.9 billion yuan and operating profit of 38.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31%. Meanwhile, the non catering instant retail business Meituan Flash Purchase saw a year-on-year increase of over 40% in order volume in 2023.
This year, Alibaba is the only Internet enterprise in China to decline. In 2023, Alibaba completed multiple rounds of organizational changes and adjustments in many business segments. In the past year, Alibaba has completed its "1+6+N" organizational transformation, with Wu Yongming replacing Zhang Yong as CEO of Alibaba Group, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Cloud, and also taking over as Chairman and CEO of Taobao Group. On the one hand, "revitalizing Taobao" has become the highest priority task within Alibaba. In addition, solving the "big company disease" and maintaining entrepreneurial spirit are also extremely challenging.
Alibaba is in a period of transformation, so the four major indicators are slightly lagging behind. However, with the stability of the organizational structure and a clear direction for change, Alibaba is rapidly improving and is expected to return to the growth track, "said Zhuang Shuai, founder of Bailian Consulting, in an interview with Daily Economic News.
In 2023, the annual revenue increased by 90%, and Pinduoduo made its debut on the list
In addition to the long-standing international e-commerce enterprises and the domestic Internet e-commerce giants that have been on the list for many years, a new face of e-commerce has also appeared on the list this year - Chinese Internet e-commerce enterprises ranked 442 with a lot of competition.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the Fortune Global 500 companies are mainly ranked from high to low based on their annual operating income.
Meanwhile, Fortune magazine requires companies on the list to meet multiple conditions: firstly, their operating income must meet the standard. Profit, assets, shareholder equity, number of employees, etc. are only reference indicators and do not consider the company's global reputation; Secondly, enterprise statistical data must have high transparency; Thirdly, there must be independent corporate governance.
In 2023, Pinduoduo, which has captured domestic and international markets with low prices, has indeed achieved record high revenue growth. In the third quarter of 2023, when both Alibaba and JD.com experienced single digit revenue growth, Pinduoduo, as the youngest among the "e-commerce giants," almost doubled its revenue. In the third quarter of last year, Pinduoduo's revenue reached 68.84 billion yuan, a significant increase of 93.9%.
After the release of the financial report, Pinduoduo's market value increased by nearly 200 billion yuan at the end of November last year, with a total market value exceeding 131 trillion yuan. Subsequently, its market value surpassed Alibaba and became a landmark event in the industry.
According to the financial report, Pinduoduo's annual revenue for 2023 was 247.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 90%. In the first quarter of 2024, the company achieved a revenue of 86.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 131%.
Along with the strong growth of the main website, Pinduoduo's cross-border business Temu has also made frequent moves in the past year. Since its launch in September 2022, Temu has gradually entered the North American, Australian, European, and Asian markets. Zhu Zheng, senior vice president and chief development officer of Pinduoduo, said recently at the 2024 China Internet Conference that Temu has entered more than 70 countries and regions in the world.
In terms of profit margin ranking, Pinduoduo has a high profit margin of 24.2%, ranking 17th among the Fortune Global 500 companies this year, and is the mainland company with the highest profit margin after China Merchants Bank (29%).
Being listed means that Pinduoduo's financial indicators, market performance, innovation capabilities, and globalization strategy are recognized globally. Pinduoduo still has great development space and prospects both domestically and internationally, "said Zhuang Shuai.
However, Pan Helin, a member of the Information and Communication Economy Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out in an interview with the Daily Economic News that "I think Pinduoduo is only a short-term victory. In the long run, the focus of e-commerce competition is not only low price and low value, but also competition for after-sales and other services
China Post ranks 8 postal and express delivery companies on the list
In the fields of postal and express delivery, a total of 8 companies have been shortlisted. Among them, China Post has entered the top 100 for five consecutive years, ranking 83rd this year, up three places from last year. According to official data from China Post, in 2023, China Post Group achieved a revenue of 798.731 billion yuan, an increase of 6.74%; Achieved a profit of 78.786 billion yuan, an increase of 8.71%. Both revenue and profit rank first in the world postal industry.
Private express delivery company SF Express has also been shortlisted for three consecutive years, ranking 415th this year. In terms of revenue and profit, SF Express's revenue for 2023 is 258.4 billion yuan; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 8.23 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.4%. At the end of June 2023, SF Express completed the sale and delivery of its franchise based Fengwang business, further focusing on the development of its core business.
In 2023, SF Holding's total shipment volume reached 11.97 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. The vast logistics network has become one of the supports for SF Express's performance growth. By the end of 2023, SF Express will operate and manage 1900 warehousing resources, 396 transfer centers, and over 44000 self operated and agency service points nationwide.
In addition to its main business of express delivery, SF Express has also had significant differentiation routes and certain advantages in areas such as air freight and same city freight in the past year. In the third quarter of 2023, SF Express has built and put into operation the largest Ezhou air cargo hub in Asia. We have established a business portfolio that includes international express delivery, cross-border e-commerce logistics, and local express delivery in Southeast Asia.
As of the end of 2023, SF Express has owned and leased a total of 103 all cargo aircraft, operating 152 domestic and international routes, connecting 65 international airports. SF Express's same city instant delivery business, SF Express Same City, successfully turned losses around in 2023 and achieved its first annual profit.
In addition, Japan Post, DHL Group, USPS, and France Post have also entered the Fortune Global 500 list.