A-shares Market Capitalization Map Changes: "Innovation Content" Reflects the Rise of China's Emerging Industries

On April 1, the A-share STAR Market science and technology composite index rose more than 3%, with outstanding performance. This trend is not an isolated one-day行情, but a snapshot of the sustained strength of the technology sector in recent years.

Driven by technology stocks, the ranks of A-share large-cap companies have continued to expand. As of April 1, there were 184 companies with market caps above 1 trillion yuan, up 5 from the beginning of the year; among them, 12 have market caps above 10 trillion yuan. A decade ago, companies with market caps above 1 trillion yuan and above 10 trillion yuan were only 51 and 4, respectively.

Once, the “10-trillion-yuan market cap club,” led by finance and energy, is now being acceleratedly reshaped by emerging industries represented by hard technology. A landmark milestone appeared on August 22, 2025: the total market value of the electronics industry reached 11.38 trillion yuan, surpassing the banking industry at the top for the long term for the first time, and taking the No. 1 spot among A-share industries. This is not only a highlight moment for an industry, but also a capital-market confirmation of China’s economic shift from factor-driven growth to innovation-driven growth.

Looking through the history of global stock markets, changes in a country’s market-cap “map” are a mirror of its economic structure evolution. The U.S. market took decades to complete the transition from the industrial era to the digital era; over the same period, China’s A-share market, within just a decade, rapidly moved from being led by “finance + oil” to being guided by “hard tech + the intelligent economy.”

“The stock market is the barometer of the economy. But more accurately, it is the barometer of the quality of economic growth.” Li Xunlei, chief economist at CITIC Securities, divided China’s economy over the past 30 years into three 10-year periods, saying, “During that time, we witnessed the shift between China’s old and new growth drivers, and also saw the rise of emerging industries.”

Reshaping: From “Finance Dominating the Charts” to “Tech Shining”

Over the past decade, the A-share market-cap map has undergone profound restructuring: emerging industries have surged strongly, while traditional sectors have seen their share decline amid the wave of industrial transformation.

As a landmark turning point, in August 2025, the total market value of the electronics industry first surpassed that of the banking industry; afterward, it kept climbing. As of the date of this reporter’s release, the total market value of the electronics industry reached 14.16 trillion yuan, about 7 times higher than 10 years ago.

Among them, three “new forces”—CATL, China Mobile, and Hon Hai Precision Industry—joined the “10-trillion-yuan market cap club,” reflecting the core logic of the current capital market’s explosive growth in the technology track.

Represented by Hon Hai Precision Industry, amid the global surge in AI compute demand, the company has become the core “shovel seller.” As NVIDIA’s core supplier and a global leader in AI servers, in 2025 its net profit attributable to shareholders reached 35.286 billion yuan, up 51.98% year over year. Of this, revenue from AI servers of cloud service providers grew more than 3 times year over year, and revenue from 800G-and-above high-speed switches surged 13 times.

A research report from CITIC Jianwei Investment Research says that the explosive growth in the iteration of large models and the rollout of generative AI scenarios drives compute demand to rise exponentially. With its world-leading position in the AI server field, Hon Hai Precision Industry is expected to fully benefit.

The communication industry has also risen significantly, with total market value of 5.82 trillion yuan; its ranking moved from No. 23 to No. 8. China Mobile, relying on 5G buildout and digital services, has become a provider of infrastructure for the digital economy era. Behind the stable “10-trillion-yuan market cap” base is the value reshaping that the digital economy is bringing to traditional communications.

CATL, meanwhile, has ridden on the global new-energy transition wave, with its market cap landing in the “10-trillion-yuan market cap club.”

This “tech topping the charts” is not a coincidence; it closely aligns with global trends. In 2006, among the top 20 companies by market cap on the U.S. S&P 500, Exxon Mobil ranked No. 1 with about $37 billion in market value; financial institutions such as Citigroup and Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase held important positions, while consumer leaders such as Procter & Gamble and Walmart were also among them. At that time, Apple ranked only 45th.

By 2026, NVIDIA, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have firmly held the top five by market cap. The rankings of the top three companies 20 years ago were 200th, 45th, and 22nd, respectively. The information technology sector’s weight in the S&P 500 rose from under 15% to above 30%, becoming a core engine behind the rise of the U.S. stock market.

The same is true for A shares. Hon Hai Precision Industry leads the electronics sector by market cap above 1 trillion yuan; Haitong Information and SMIC follow closely. Companies with market caps above 1 trillion yuan such as Cambricon and North Huachuang have continued to break through in chips, equipment, algorithms, and other areas, building a technology industrial chain with global competitiveness.

Looking at traditional industries instead, the total market value of real estate fell from 2.53 trillion yuan 10 years ago to 1.09 trillion yuan, already “cut in half,” and its ranking dropped from No. 4 to No. 23. The total market values of sectors such as oil refining and petrochemicals and basic chemicals have also seen stalled growth, with weights continuing to decline.

Luo Zhiheng, chief economist at Yuekai Securities, believes that when the electronics sector surpasses the banking sector to become A-share’s largest market-cap sector, this is not an isolated phenomenon. It is a concentrated reflection of the continuously rising share of high-tech manufacturing in areas such as production, investment, exports, and financing, reflecting the acceleration of the shift between old and new growth drivers.

Previously, banks relied on interest spreads, and real estate on land appreciation; the core assets were policy dividends and resource endowments. Now, the core assets of technology leaders are patents, talent, and ecosystems. This shift determines the long-term stability of the current market-cap structure.

Breaking Through: From “Exporting Products” to “Putting Down Roots Overseas”

Breaking down the rise path of A-share “new forces,” going overseas is a clear main line.

In recent years, A-share listed companies’ pace of going abroad has accelerated markedly. Not only have they expanded overseas business scale, they have also completed the leap from “exporting products” to “putting down roots overseas.”

According to statistics by a reporter from Shanghai Securities News, in 2024 the number of A-share listed companies with overseas business exceeded 3,700, accounting for 68%—both figures hit historical highs. This means more than two-thirds of A-share companies have integrated into global markets, and overseas business has become an important engine for driving earnings growth.

From the perspective of revenue scale: in 2024, overseas business revenue of A-share companies exceeded 10 trillion yuan, up more than 2 times from 10 years ago; the overseas business revenue as a proportion of total revenue reached 15%, up 5 percentage points from 10 years ago—also a historical high.

More crucially, the profitability of overseas business has improved in a leapfrogging way. In 2024, the gross profit from overseas business for A-share companies reached 1.65 trillion yuan, up 7 times from 10 years ago, with growth far outpacing that of revenue; overseas business gross profit as a proportion of total gross profit reached 15%, up 10 percentage points from 10 years ago.

From the perspective of industry structure, changes in the “main force” for going overseas directly reflect China’s industrial upgrading. In 2014, the top three industries by overseas business revenue weight in A shares were oil refining and petrochemicals, building decoration, and transportation. By 2024, the electronics industry’s overseas revenue reached 1.72 trillion yuan, accounting for 16% of the A-share weight, surpassing oil refining and petrochemicals and moving to first place. The automobile industry’s ranking rose from No. 8 to No. 3, and industries such as power equipment and nonferrous metals also increased significantly.

By contrast, for traditional industries such as oil refining and petrochemicals, building decoration, and steel, the overseas revenue weights have clearly declined. Taking oil refining and petrochemicals as an example, its overseas revenue weight in A shares fell from 27% in 2014 to 12% in 2024, down 15 percentage points over a decade.

Among companies going overseas, a group of industry leaders have achieved sustained growth in overseas business.

Companies such as BYD, Midea Group, Zijin Mining, Mindray Medical, Haier Smart Home, Luxshare Precision, and JiChuang (or similar) have become benchmarks for global expansion. These companies not only achieved global coverage of their products, but also deeply integrated into global value chains through overseas factory establishment, localized R&D, and brand building—realizing a transformation from “going out” to “putting down roots.”

Bao Chengchao, deputy general manager of the Research Institute of Guolian Securities (or Guolian Minsheng Securities), said that the increase in the overseas business share—especially the gross-margin share exceeding the revenue share—shows that Chinese companies’ overseas expansion has moved beyond the earlier stage of simply “selling products” to a higher stage of “building brands,” “laying out networks,” and “deeply putting down roots.” This is an important marker of improved global competitiveness of China’s economy and enterprises.

Supporting: A Two-Way Come-Together of Institutional Dividends and Industrial Blueprints

The shift in the A-share market-cap map reflects, behind the scenes, coordinated guidance from institutional change in the capital market and industrial policy.

In terms of capital market reforms: in 2019, the STAR Market was established and the registration-based system was piloted; in 2020, the ChiNext reform was carried out and the registration-based system was piloted; in 2023, a fully registration-based system was officially rolled out. A series of institutional innovations broke the rigid requirement that traditional IPO review place on profitability indicators, greatly enhancing the capital market’s inclusiveness toward technology innovation enterprises.

Data show that from 2020 to 2025, about 60% of IPO financing amounts in A shares flowed to strategic emerging industries such as information technology, high-end equipment, and bio-medical services. The resource-allocation function of the capital market precisely connected with the real-economy transformation needs.

The release of these institutional dividends has promoted the clustered listing and growth of hard-technology companies.

Since the STAR Market’s establishment in 2019, hard-technology firms such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and new energy have accelerated their entry into the capital market. After receiving funding support, they have continued to increase R&D investment, achieving a virtuous cycle of technological breakthroughs and market-cap growth. By the end of 2025, there were 165 members in A shares in the “1-trillion-yuan market cap club,” among which more than 70 were strategic emerging industry enterprises, accounting for over 40%. In 2016, this figure was fewer than 10.

The rise of hard-tech enterprises in the capital market has not only changed the structure of the market-cap map, but also reshaped the market’s logic for valuing value.

“Meanwhile, China’s industrial policy is also very forward-looking. Since the Internet started around 2000, we have captured almost all opportunities for the rise of global emerging industries—this is a very rare advantage,” Li Xunlei said.

Outlook: Using New Quality to Lead China’s Economic Transformation Butterfly Effect

Amid the wave of China’s economic structural transformation, the A-share market-cap map is becoming a “barometer” for industrial upgrading.

As the traditional model driven by resource consumption, low-cost labor, and real-estate has waned, high-end manufacturing such as electronics, communications, and new energy is accelerating its rise, becoming the core carrier of new quality productive forces.

Recently, National Bureau of Statistics head Kang Yi said that in 2025, under the pressure of the national economy moving forward with effort and a push toward new and better developments, high-quality development achieved new results, and the main goals and tasks for economic and social development were successfully completed—the “14th Five-Year Plan” concluded successfully.

Data show: in 2025, the added value of equipment manufacturing above designated size and high-tech manufacturing increased by 9.2% and 9.4% respectively year over year; production of new-energy vehicles exceeded 16 million units, remaining number one globally for 11 consecutive years; wind power generator sets and bio-based chemical fibers and other green products grew rapidly, with the “green content” of industries continuing to rise.

Digital product manufacturing also performed strongly: added value grew 9.3% year over year. Key products such as servers and industrial robots saw steady expansion in output, indicating a deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy.

Kang Yi said that in 2025, China’s R&D expenditure intensity reached 2.8%, up 0.11 percentage points from the previous year, surpassing— for the first time—the average level of OECD countries. Data from the World Intellectual Property Organization show that China’s innovation index ranking entered the global top 10 for the first time. Great news has continued to come in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum science and technology, and brain-computer interfaces, and a number of major research achievements have emerged one after another.

While acknowledging these achievements, we must also see the real challenges faced by the technology industry.

For example: in some areas, core technologies are still constrained by others, and “bottleneck” problems in links such as high-end chips and basic software have not been fundamentally solved; some companies’ profit models are still unclear, and there is still a time lag between R&D spending and commercialization returns; enthusiasm for hard tech in the market has also, in some regions, given rise to valuation bubbles. How to balance growth expectations with investment rationality tests the wisdom of market participants. In addition, external uncertainties such as intensifying geopolitical games and the restructuring of global technology supply chains also bring long-term challenges to supply-chain security.

Industry insiders generally believe that with the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, future industries such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and commercial spaceflight are expected to generate a new round of market-cap growth engines. A-share’s “technology weight” is expected to keep rising, further moving toward the mature U.S.-share structure of “technology + finance + energy.”

The significance of changes in the market-cap map goes far beyond the capital market itself. It reflects the evolution of China’s development philosophy: from pursuing scale and speed to pursuing innovation and the future with determination.

For market participants, understanding this value shift is not only about weighing the pros and cons of investment decisions, but also about trying to read how industry pulses beat in the new era—and the reshaping trajectory of core assets amid technological waves.