PetroChina briefly became the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization after its 2007 IPO.
PetroChina’s shares surged on their first day of trading in Shanghai in November 2007, briefly giving the company a market value above $1 trillion. That made it the first company widely reported to reach that valuation, although the price quickly fell and the ranking did not last.
PetroChina is the listed arm of China National Petroleum Corporation, one of China’s major state-owned energy groups. Its activities include oil and gas exploration, production, refining, transportation, and sales.
This episode is often confused with Apple’s later record. Apple became the first U.S. public company to reach $1 trillion in 2018, while PetroChina’s 2007 peak was an earlier global intraday valuation. The two records describe different categories and periods.