The threshold for this year's top 500?companies of China was 11.08 billion yuan, according to Wang Jiming, executive vice-president of the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC), who announced the figure at the opening ceremony of the Top 500 China?Companies Release Conference and Corporations Summit held from Sept. 4 to 5, 2010 in Hefei, Anhui province.

Wang said the minimum revenue required to make the top 500 list had increased slightly from 2009, from 10.54 to 11.08 billion. In addition, the threshold for this year's top 500 manufacturers and top 500 service?companies was 4.16 billion yuan and 0.99 billion yuan respectively.

Combined revenues and assets of China's top 500 companies keep growing in 2010, and economic benefits are apparently improving.

In terms of some major business indicators, Chinese companies outperformed their global rivals. They are taking a more prominent position in the global top 500 list and narrowing the gap with their American counterparts, Wang said.

The threshold for being included when the CEC first began compiling the list in 2002 was only 2 billion yuan.