Representatives of enterprises, led by Baoshan Iron and Steel, or Baosteel, believe Baosteel will ascend to the top 500.

A few enterprise representatives indicated Shanghai should give birth to several top-500 enterprises, which is in line with the city's plan to turn it into an international economic hub.

Baosteel is no doubt the hottest candidate to enter the top 500, said Ge Hongbing, deputy general manager of Baosteel.

However, it will never expand with the sole aim to secure a spot in the top 500 list, said Ge. The company has paid much attention to getting stronger while getting bigger in the past few years. It is aimed to become a gigantic modern state-owned enterprise (SOE) with big scale, outstanding major business, multiplex investment and higher core competitiveness.

According to him, the sale volume of Baosteel was 71 billion yuan in 2000, which means there is a gap of 10 billion yuan compared with those ranking lower on the top 500 list.

This year, Baosteel will pump 30 billion yuan in several new projects. It will endeavor to become the strongest among the strongest, not only entering the top 500, he concluded.

(People's Daily 02/13/2001)