SURPRISINGLY overtaking Tencent, SF Holding is ranked ninth in the latest Fortune Future 50 list released recently by Fortune magazine.

Three Shenzhen enterprises, namely SF Holding, Tencent Holding and BYD Co., have made it onto the list along with 18 other Chinese firms.

To identify the Future 50, a total of 1,100 publicly traded firms with at least US$20 billion in market value or US$10 billion in revenue in the 12 months through the end of 2017 were examined. A company’s final score represents its performance compared with peers of a similar size.

Fifty percent of a company’s score is based on market potential — defined as its expected future growth as determined by financial markets. The other half is based on a company’s capacity to deliver against this potential. The score comprises 17 factors selected for their ability to predict growth over the next five years.

China and the United States are neck and neck on the list as each country has 21 companies on the Future 50, with Workday ranking in the first place among all companies and Weibo taking second overall and first among all Chinese companies.

Three companies based in South Korea, two Japanese companies, one French company, one Indian company and one Thai enterprise make up the remaining places.

As for the performance of Chinese firms, both Beijing and Hong Kong have five firms on the list, while Guangzhou has two Future 50 firms. Other major cities, including Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing, have only one firm on the list.

The report also mentions that the chairmen of the board of Tencent, SF Holding and BYD were also included in the latest Hurun China Rich List, with Tencent’s Pony Ma taking third, Wang Wei of SF Holding ranked seventh and Wang Chuanfu taking 99th.

(Zhang Qian)