PetroChina became the first company to reach a US$1 trillion market capitalization using a stock exchange outside the United States when its Shanghai-listed shares surged in November 2007.
PetroChina’s initial public offering in Shanghai attracted enormous demand from Chinese investors. The sharp first-day increase produced a market value above US$1 trillion, although the valuation later fell as the stock price retreated.
PetroChina is the publicly listed arm of China National Petroleum Corporation. Its business includes oil and gas exploration, production, refining, chemicals, and marketing. Because the company had separate listings in Shanghai and Hong Kong, its valuation could differ substantially depending on which share price was used.
The record is a reminder that market-cap rankings are sensitive to exchange, currency, free-float conventions, and the exact time measured. It should not be confused with Apple’s later US-listed trillion-dollar record.