Four enterprises from Shenzhen made it into the top 10 of the 2023 list of China’s top 500 private enterprises released by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce on September 12.

The top 10 in the list are: JD.com, Alibaba, Hengli Group, Amer International, Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Co., Tencent, Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering, Vanke, Lenovo and BYD.

Shenzhen enterprises Amer International, Tencent, Vanke and BYD ranked fourth, sixth, eighth and 10th, respectively.

According to statistics, 50 enterprises from Guangdong Province have been included in China’s top 500 private enterprises, with 27 enterprises from Shenzhen, accounting for 54% of the province’s entries in the list.

As per the research and analysis report, a total of 8,961 enterprises, each with an annual revenue of over 500 million yuan (US$68.67 million), participated in the survey. The threshold for entry into the list reached 27 billion yuan, an increase of 1.2 billion yuan from the previous year.

In terms of R&D expenditure ranking, the top 10 companies are involved in four industries, namely internet and related services, automobile manufacturing, computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing, as well as electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing.

Among the four industries, R&D investment in the internet industry showed outstanding performance, with Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu topping the list. Tencent’s investment reached 61.4 billion yuan in 2022, followed by Alibaba and Baidu with investments of 53.8 billion yuan and 23.3 billion yuan, respectively.

In terms of tax contributions and employment, the total tax payment of the top 500 private enterprises amounted to 1.25 trillion yuan, accounting for 7.51% of the total national tax revenue. These enterprises provided employment for over 10.97 million people, accounting for 1.5% of the country’s total employment figure. BYD topped the list with 570,100 people employed.

Shenzhen’s private economy played a pivotal role in the city’s economic growth during the first half of the year.

Data showed that the private economy contributed a substantial 60% to the city’s GDP, which achieved a year-on-year growth rate of 6.3% during this period.

Additionally, the city’s fixed-asset investments grew by 13.1%, while total retail sales of consumer goods recorded an increase of 11.5%.