(Yicai Global) Nov. 25 -- Chinese internet titan Tencent Holdings is China’s most valuable private firm, toppling last year’s number one e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding as its market capitalization surged 75 percent to reach CNY4.98 trillion (USD757 billion), according to the latest ranking by the Hurun Research Institute.

Alibaba came second with a value of CNY4.78 trillion (USD727.2 billion), followed by food delivery giant Meituan with CNY1.63 trillion, according to the China 500 Most Valuable Private Companies list released today.

The healthcare sector, greatly boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic, had the most businesses on the list at 93, overtaking the manufacturing and real estate industries for the first time. Manufacturing came second with 83 firms.

There were a number of newcomers from the new energy vehicle sector. Xi’an, central Shaanxi province-based BYD Auto and Shanghai-based Nio both broke into the top 20. Beijing-based Li Auto, Guangzhou-based XPeng Motors and battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology made the list for the first time.

“This is the first year that electric vehicle makers have ranked so high,” said Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf, also known by his Chinese name Hu Run. “Chinese EV companies are clearly leading this emerging industry on a global scale,” he added.

There were 120 new faces on the list. Fifty-three saw their value diminish and 121 dropped out, including instant messaging app Momo, disgraced coffee house chain Luckin coffee and scandal-hit car rental company UCar.

The threshold for this year was CNY23 billion (USD3.5 billion), CNY9 billion more than last year. The total value of companies on the list came to CNY56 trillion (USD8.5 trillion), nearly 60 percent of China’s gross domestic product.

Editor: Kim Taylor