Companies listed in mainland China have reached a historic milestone in their global operations. Total overseas revenues hit a record, with electronic and automobile giants such as Foxconn Technology Group and BYD among the top performers.

Total overseas revenues of A-share companies approached 12.4 trillion yuan (US$1.8 trillion) last year, accounting for nearly 17 per cent of their total income – both figures representing all-time highs, according to data from state-backed newspaper Securities Times.

A group of companies that have effectively localised their operations across continents is leading the charge, topped by PetroChina, the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, the country’s biggest oil producer. It said that crude output in foreign markets grew 1.8 per cent to nearly 168 million barrels last year.

The next three were all electronics and car manufacturers: Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII), which is the Shanghai-listed unit of Taiwan’s Foxconn, Shenzhen-listed BYD, and Luxshare Precision Industry. Besides being an electric vehicle giant, BYD also makes phone components and assembles gadgets such as Apple’s iPad, with the latter business accounting for nearly 20 per cent of its entire income in 2025.

FII had 56 per cent of its 2025 revenue from its mainland factories, but with more than one third from the Mexico plant, according to its financial report. BYD said that its new energy vehicles were popular in Thailand, Singapore and Brazil in terms of sales volume, while new registrations of BYD cars in Europe saw a jump of nearly 270 per cent.

FII reported growth of 57 per cent and BYD a 12 per cent decline in their overall revenues in the first quarter of 2026. But unlike the annual reports, neither firm provided a geographical breakdown of the figures.