PetroChina was the first Chinese company to exceed a $1 trillion market capitalization.
PetroChina briefly passed the $1 trillion valuation level on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in November 2007. Its shares surged after the company’s listing, making it one of the most valuable publicly traded businesses in the world at that moment.
PetroChina is the listed arm of China National Petroleum Corporation, one of China’s major state-owned energy groups. Its business includes oil and natural-gas exploration, production, refining, and sales.
The milestone was short-lived because the stock price later fell substantially. It is also important not to confuse PetroChina with Alibaba or Tencent, which became major Chinese market-cap leaders in later years.