PetroChina briefly became the world’s most valuable publicly traded company in November 2007.
PetroChina’s shares surged after the company’s listing in Shanghai, briefly giving it a market capitalization of about US$1 trillion. That valuation made it the largest listed company in the world at the time, ahead of established leaders such as ExxonMobil.
The event occurred during a period of strong enthusiasm for Chinese equities. PetroChina’s Shanghai-listed shares traded at a substantial premium to its Hong Kong-listed shares, creating a valuation that many analysts considered difficult to sustain. The stock later declined sharply from its debut levels.
PetroChina is the publicly traded subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, or CNPC. It should not be confused with CNPC itself, which is state-owned. The 2007 episode is also often described as the first time a company outside the United States briefly reached a US$1 trillion market value.