Rich enterprises feeling the pinch

Although the top 500 Chinese companies have seen their income swell over the years, the room for growth has largely contracted, especially after the global financial crisis, a new report said on Monday.

According to the 2015 China Top 500 Enterprise List, the threshold, sales revenue and total assets of the companies covered by the survey have hit a record low. The total sales revenue of the shortlisted companies reached 59.5 trillion yuan ($9.3 trillion), up 4.94 percent year-on-year, which is the lowest growth rate ever since the China Enterprise Confederation and China Enterprise Directors Association started to draft the ranking 13 years ago.

The threshold for entering the list has been raised by 750 million yuan to 23.61 billion yuan. This is, however, the narrowest increase in five years. The total assets of this year's finalists reached 197.6 trillion yuan, up 12 percent year-on-year, which is once again the lowest growth rate within the decade.