ACFIC Releases 2026 China Private Enterprises 500 List; Huawei and Tencent Lead R&D

The list and report were based on ACFIC's 28th survey of large-scale private enterprises this year. A total of 6,350 companies with 2025 operating revenue above 1 billion yuan participated, and the top 500 by revenue formed the 2026 China Private Enterprises 500 list. The entry threshold was 25.599 billion yuan. In 2025, the 500 companies' total revenue reached 44.93 trillion yuan, up 4.35% from the previous year. A total of 110 companies had revenue above 100 billion yuan, and 12 exceeded 500 billion yuan. Twenty-nine of the 500 companies were also listed in this year's Fortune Global 500.

R&D spending by private enterprises grew in both total amount and intensity. Among the 500 companies that reported R&D data, total R&D expenses were 1.26 trillion yuan, with 1.3449 million R&D personnel and an average R&D intensity of 2.95%. The top 10 companies by R&D investment were Huawei, Tencent, Alibaba, BYD, Xiaomi, Geely Holding, Ant Group, Meituan, JD.com and CATL. Internet companies accounted for half of the top 10, and Tencent remained first among internet companies in R&D spending. The 500 companies held 848,700 valid patents, including 733,500 domestic valid patents. According to ACFIC's earlier 2026 Private Enterprises Invention Patent 500 list, the top 10 by invention patents were Huawei, Tencent, Gree, TCL, Midea, Ant Group, Baidu, Alibaba, Qihoo Technology and Xiaomi.

Huawei and Tencent have maintained leading roles in private-sector technology R&D and innovation. In 2025, Huawei's R&D spending reached 192.3 billion yuan, or 21.8% of its annual revenue, and its cumulative R&D spending over the past decade exceeded 1.38 trillion yuan. By the end of 2025, Huawei held more than 165,000 valid authorized patents globally, making it the company with the most cumulative authorized patents in China. Tencent followed with 85.75 billion yuan in R&D spending in 2025 and 79.2 billion yuan in capital expenditure, both record highs. The company has continued to increase AI investment. In the second quarter of 2026, its quarterly capital expenditure reached 52.8 billion yuan, up 176% year on year, to provide infrastructure for Hunyuan model upgrades, inference demand for WorkBuddy and CodeBuddy, and AI capability building across products and services. By the end of June 2026, Tencent had more than 98,000 publicly disclosed patent applications and more than 55,000 granted patents in major countries and regions, mainly in artificial intelligence, cloud technology and instant messaging.

Companies with R&D expenses above 10 billion yuan were spread across internet and related services, computer, communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing, and software and information technology services. On September 9, CATL, Geely, Chint, Xiaomi and Tencent jointly initiated the Wenzhou Initiative on Strengthening Basic Research by Private Enterprises, proposing to incorporate basic research into corporate strategic planning and continuously optimize R&D investment structures.

The report also detailed tax, employment and social contributions. In 2025, the 500 companies paid 1.30 trillion yuan in taxes, and 27 companies paid more than 10 billion yuan each, accounting for 5.40% of the list. They employed 11.9633 million people, with 48 companies employing more than 50,000 each. The top five industries by employment were computer, communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing; automobile manufacturing; internet and related services; electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing; and ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing, with 6.0084 million employees in total, or 50.22% of the 500 companies' total employment. Among the 500 companies, 66.40% participated in rural revitalization, 59% took part in the Ten Thousand Enterprises Revitalize Ten Thousand Villages initiative, and 69.40% participated in charitable donations, giving 9.939 billion yuan in total. Seventeen companies donated more than 100 million yuan each; Tencent's financial report showed donations of 2.26 billion yuan in 2025.

The 8th Science Explorer Award was held in Shenzhen on September 20, before the list's release. Fifty young scientists received the award, and each will receive 3 million yuan over five years to use freely. The award was initiated by 14 well-known scientists and Tencent founder Pony Ma, and is operated by the New Cornerstone Science Foundation, which Tencent funded with 10 billion yuan. It focuses on basic science and frontier technology, and has funded 397 young scientists over eight years. The report also said that 113 of the 500 companies introduced strategic investors, 75 introduced financial investors and 69 introduced industrial investors. In credit building, 94.60% established internal credit management systems, 49.40% commissioned credit service agencies for credit rating reports and 55.40% disclosed ESG information in a standardized way. The report said the continued implementation of the Private Economy Promotion Law and related policies will create a better environment and more room for private economic development.