Companies from Europe account for nearly half of the top 100 overseas investors in China, according to a report by the Hurun Research Institute, called the Hurun Largest Foreign & HK/Macao/Taiwan Companies in China 2022. It includes a list of the top 100 firms that made the greatest contribution to the economy, based on their sales and number of employees in the Chinese mainland. This is the second year the list has been produced. Companies on the list recorded combined sales of USD1 trillion in the Chinese mainland last year, equivalent to 7% of the country's GDP. The companies employed just under 3 million people in China, at an average of 30,000 employees per company. In terms of business model, 59% are direct-to-consumer, while 41% are business-to-business firms. Overall, 81% sold physical products and 19% sold software or services. The auto, consumer goods, healthcare and consumer electronics sectors led the list, accounting for nearly half of the top 100 firms. The average age of the 100 companies is 92, with an average 55-year history in China.
The top 10 on the list are Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Volkswagen, Apple, General Motors, Charoen Pokphand, HSBC, Robert Bosch, Toyota Motor, Samsung Electronics and BMW. By country, the largest number of companies is from the U.S., followed by Japan, the UK, Germany and France, with the top five countries accounting for more than 80% of the Top 100. By continent, Europe contributed nearly half of the Top 100, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said, as reported by the Global Times.
