PetroChina became the world’s most valuable public company in 2007 after a record-setting stock debut.
PetroChina’s shares surged when they began trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in November 2007. The rise briefly gave the company a market capitalization of about $1 trillion, making it the first publicly traded company to reach that approximate valuation during a market debut.
PetroChina is the listed arm of China National Petroleum Corporation and is involved in oil and gas exploration, production, refining, chemicals, and marketing. Its large share offering attracted substantial attention from Chinese investors, although the stock later fell sharply from its debut level.
PetroChina’s episode is often mixed up with Apple’s 2018 milestone. Apple was the first company to close above $1 trillion in a widely recognized sustained modern market-capitalization milestone, while PetroChina’s 2007 valuation spike occurred during an unusually strong debut and was short-lived.