PetroChina became the first Chinese company to exceed a $1 trillion market capitalization during its 2007 Shanghai listing debut.
PetroChina is the publicly traded subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, one of China’s major state-owned energy groups. Its Shanghai A-share offering in November 2007 produced a spectacular first-day valuation, briefly making PetroChina the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization.
The quoted figure was based on the opening market price and the company’s total shares, including shares that were not all freely tradable. That distinction matters because market capitalization measures the value of all outstanding shares, not merely the shares changing hands that day.
The valuation quickly fell as enthusiasm cooled and energy-market expectations changed. PetroChina remains separate from Sinopec, another large Chinese petroleum company, and from China National Offshore Oil Corporation.