By Lynn Yu

In November of 2021， at the Hurun Global 500 CEO Conference 2021 which was held in association with the Jiaxing City government， the Hurun Research Institute released the Hurun Largest Foreign & HK/Macau/Taiwan Companies in China 2021， which is a list of the top 100 companies ranked by their sales and number of employees in China. This is the first time that the Hurun Research Institute has released the list.

Overall， the Hurun Top 100 had sales in China last year equaling USD 900 billion， equivalent to 6% of Chinas annual GDP， at an average of USD 9 billion per company. Overall， they had 2.5 million employees in China， an average of 25，000 per company. 61% of them are consumer brands， whilst 39% are B2B companies. 82% sell physical products and 18% sell software or services. The automotive， healthcare， consumer products and consumer electronics industries account for half of the Hurun Top 100 between them. The average age of these companies is 91 years old， with 57 years of history in China.

Rupert Hoogewerf， Chairman and Chief Researcher of the Hurun Report， said： “The idea behind this list of the Hurun Largest Foreign & HK/ Macau/Taiwan Companies in China is to highlight companies which are perhaps the closest thing to being economic role models for how to do business in China. Between them， they had sales of almost USD 1 trillion in China， equivalent to 6% of Chinas GDP， and between them they have 2.5 million employees.”

“It is interesting to see which sectors these companies are from， since it shows which sectors foreign countries and HK/Macau/Taiwan have had the biggest economic impact on， i.e. healthcare， consumer products and consumer electronics.”

Sixty percent are direct-to-consumer brands， led by the likes of Volkswagen， Apple， Samsung， Walmart， Coca-Cola， Starbucks， Head & Shoulders and Johnson & Johnson.

“When looking at the history these companies have with China， it might come as a surprise to some to see quite how long these companies have been engaging with China. 1 in 5 of the Hurun list first came to China over 100 years ago， with the average being 57 years，” he continued.

“A look at which countries these companies come from is also interesting. US companies led the way， with 1 in 3 of the Hurun list being from the US， followed by Japan， the UK， Germany， and France. These five countries accounted for 80% of the Hurun Top 100. By continent， however， it was Europe that contributed the most， accounting for 45% of the Hurun list.”

Hon Hai Precision topped the list. Its subsidiary Foxconn landed in Shenzhen in 1988 and has now become the worlds largest electronics manufacturer and the worlds largest processing manufacturer， and is Apples largest manufacturing factory in the world. It has more than 600，000 employees in China. Hon Hai Precision ranked 284th in this years Hurun Global 500 with a value of USD 59 billion.

Volkswagen ranked second. VW entered the Chinese market in 1984. In recent years， the focus has been on au-tonomous driving and low-carbon travel. Volkswagen and its joint ventures have more than 100，000 employees in China. Volkswagen ranked 83rd in the Hurun Global 500 with a value of USD 150 billion.

General Motors ranked third. It appeared in the Chinese market in 1924. Its brands include Buick， Chevrolet， Cadillac， etc. GM and its joint ventures have 58，000 employees in China. GM ranked 181st in the Hurun Global 500 with a value of USD 89.6 billion.

Apple ranked fourth. Apple entered the Chinese market in 1999， with the iPhone series of mobile phones of- ficially entering China in 2010， which now occupy 11% of the Chinese mobile phone market. It has 10，000 employees in China. Apple topped this years Hurun Global 500 list with a market cap of USD 2，443 billion.

Toyota Motor ranked fifth. Entering the Chinese market in 1964， Toyota has now established 28 major wholly-owned and joint venture companies in China with a total of 100，000 employees. Toyota Motor ranked 27th in the Hurun Global 500 with a value of USD 292 billion.

Charoen Pokphand ranked sixth. The CP Group was founded in 1921 in Bangkok， Thailand by broth- ers Xie Yichu and Xie Shaofei. After entering China in 1979， they built the first feed factory in Shenzhen. CP has established multiple brands such as Chia Tai Feed， CP Lotus and Chia Tai Variety Show in China， and has 90，000 employees in China.

HSBC ranked seventh. HSBC entered the Chinese market in 1865. HSBC China currently has more than 7，000 employees and has established more than 150 service outlets in more than 50 cities in mainland China. HSBC ranked 127th in this years Hurun Global 500 with a value of USD 112 billion.

Robert Bosch ranked eighth.Bosch entered the Chinese market in 1909 and currently operates 56 companies in China with approximately 53，000 employees. Robert Bosch ranked 68th in this years Hurun Global 500 with a value of USD 172 billion.

Samsung Electronics ranked ninth. After entering the Chinese market in 1992， it mainly engaged in the three major businesses of semiconductors， consumer electronics and mobile communications. It has more than 18，000 employees. Samsung Electronics ranked 13th in this years Hurun Global 500 with a value of USD 465 billion.

Honda Motor ranked tenth. It entered the Chinese market in 1973， and its businesses mainly included automobiles， motorcycles and power products. Honda is also committed to researching new energy vehicles， and also occupies an important position in research on new fuels. Honda sold more than 1.62 million vehicles in China last year. Honda Motor ranked 286th in this years Hurun Global 500 with a value of USD 58.9 billion.

By Industry

The Top 100 came from 22 industries. The automobile & auto components， healthcare， consumer goods， and consumer electronics industries accounted for the most companies on the list， with 16， 14， 14， and 7， respectively. These four industries account for half of the Top 100.

Unlike the Hurun Global 500， there are relatively few financial services and energy companies on the top 100 list.

Global Headquarters—Country/Region

The Top 100 come from 15 countries， of which the USA has the largest number of companies， with the amount standing at 34， followed by Japan with 14， the UK and Germany tied for third place with 12 each， and France with 8 companies. 3 companies from Hong Kong China， Macau China and Taiwan China made the list.

By Continent

Europe led the way with 45 of the Top 100. There were none from South America， Africa， and Oceania.

Location of Headquarters in China

Shanghai is the city of choice for 60 companies， followed by Beijing with 32. Shenzhen was third with 3， and Guangzhou， Tianjin and Xiamen each have 1.

Other Companies of Interest

Panasonic ranked 16th. Panasonics business in mainland China officially began in 1978， starting from the initial provision of television sets and refrigerators， it has since become involved in research and development， manufacturing， sales， services， logistics and other areas.

Chow Tai Fook ranked 22nd. Since opening its first store in the Chinese mainland in 1929， it now has more than 1，500 stores and 2，000 retail jewelry outlets.

TDK， which ranked 29th， gains over half of its revenues in China.

The Swire Group ranked 53rd with just under 40，000 employees. Its business core is mainly located in the Asia-pacific region， and involves real estate， aviation， shipping， etc. It has been rooted in China for more than 100 years since 1866 and will complete several Taikoo real estate projects this year.