On November 21, 2023 Guangdong Top 500 Manufacturing Enterprise Summit was held in Foshan, and the Research Report of Guangdong Top 500 Manufacturing Enterprises (hereinafter referred to as "Report") was released. According to the Report, AMER, Huawei, Foxconn, BYD, Midea were the top 5 in the list.

Based on the annual operational income, the Report assessed enterprises from their scale, operation and innovation ability, area distribution, industry characteristics and and types of ownership. In total, top 500 enterprises have generated 5.6 trillion yuan income, yielding 1.2% increase. Even though it shows a positive sign in the scale, the growth rate has slowed down.

Significant role of Activity Based Classification in enterprise operation

According to the Report, 58 enterprises (with turnover above 10 billion yuan) have generated 4.71 trillion yuan, accounting for 84.1% of total turnover. Top 100 enterprises have achieved 5.02-trillion-yuan turnover, contributing 89.6% of total turnover.

Meanwhile, the total net profit is 286.481 billion yuan, which is 21.9% lower than last year. Notably, 437 enterprises are recognized as profitable firms. The number has decreased by 20 since 2022, presenting a down trend in profitability.

However, the number of green manufacturing enterprises embraces steady increase. Out of top 500, 9 enterprises were newly recognized in 2023, making up 74 firms in total. Over 371 types of green design products have been nominated.

Increased investment in research and development

484 enterprises, accounted for 96.8%, have budget for research and development. Referring to the ratio of R&D investment, 6.8% enterprises spend above 10% of their profit, 20.4% enterprises lay in the bracket of 5%-10%. It is reported that 272 enterprises would invest 3%-5% of profit in R&D, accounting 54.4% of top 500.

Additionally, 476 out of 500 have granted patents and 463 have invention patent license.

Huge difference in the income scale of manufacturing enterprises across cities

The number of enterprises with respect to cities is listed as followed, Shenzhen (133), Foshan (70), Guangzhou (68), Dongguan (55), Zhuhai (49) and Jiangmen (39). These top 6 cities have cultivated 414 enterprises in total.

Referring to geographic location, the number of enterprises in Pearl River Delta, North GD, East GD, West GD is 467, 15, 16 and 2, respectively. The average turnover for enterprises in Pearl River Delta has reached 11.79 billion yuan, which is significantly ahead of East GD (2.61 billion yuan), North GD (3.35 billion yuan) and West GD (470 million yuan).

Large variety in manufacturing categories and strong competitiveness

Top 500 enterprises span across 24 industries, representing that there is large variety in manufacturing categories and a complete manufacturing system established in Guangdong.

Specifically, these are the major industries that the top 500 enterprises are in, electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry (74), computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry (72), general equipment manufacturing industry (45), instrument and meter manufacturing industry (40).

Greater contribution by private enterprises

The number of private enterprises has increased by 16, reaching 372 in total. Among the top 100, private enterprises have the greatest share (62), with 11 being state-owned and 27 being foreign-funded.

In terms of average turnover, state-owned enterprises have claimed the top (20.6 billion yuan) and private enterprises sit at the 2nd (10.63 billion yuan), with foreign-funded enterprises being the 3rd (10.16 billion yuan). Compared with last year figure, both state-owned and private enterprises have positive increase in operating profit, while foreign-funded enterprises encounter slight decline.

Reporter | Eddie

Revisor | Eleanor, Rouly