PetroChina briefly became the first company valued at $1 trillion on a stock exchange in 2007.
On November 5, 2007, PetroChina’s Shanghai-listed shares surged on their first trading day, giving the company a market capitalization reported at more than $1 trillion during intraday trading. The valuation later fell sharply, so the record was brief and is often described as a temporary or intraday milestone.
PetroChina is the publicly traded arm of China National Petroleum Corporation, China’s state-owned oil and gas group. Its activities include exploration, production, refining, transportation, and sales of petroleum products.
This episode is sometimes confused with a company sustaining a $1 trillion valuation at the end of a trading session. PetroChina’s reported peak was driven by a dramatic debut and the relatively high valuation of its Shanghai-listed shares, making the precise wording important.