PetroChina became the first publicly traded company outside the United States to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization in 2007.
PetroChina briefly reached the milestone on November 5, 2007, on the first day of trading its shares in Shanghai. Its valuation rose sharply after the listing, although the company’s market capitalization later fell substantially from that peak.
PetroChina is the listed arm of China National Petroleum Corporation, one of China’s major state-owned energy groups. Its businesses include exploration, production, refining, chemicals, pipelines, and fuel distribution. Strong investor demand and the importance of energy companies helped drive its early trading surge.
The episode is often remembered with a qualification: the $1 trillion figure was a brief market valuation, not a stable long-term ranking. It also predates Saudi Aramco’s public listing by more than a decade.