PetroChina’s 2007 Shanghai listing briefly made it the first company to reach a $1 trillion market value.
PetroChina’s A-shares began trading in Shanghai on November 5, 2007. The stock surged on its first day, briefly giving the company a market capitalization of about $1 trillion and making it the first publicly traded company reported to reach that level.
The valuation did not last. PetroChina’s share price declined substantially after the initial surge, illustrating how a market-cap record can be temporary and how a debut price may reflect intense demand rather than a stable long-term valuation.
This milestone is often confused with Apple’s 2018 achievement. Apple was the first U.S. company to reach $1 trillion, while PetroChina reached the broader global milestone more than a decade earlier. Saudi Aramco later became the first company to exceed $2 trillion briefly in 2020.