Recently, the Urban Construction Investment and Financing Research Professional Committee of the China Urban Development Research Association (hereinafter referred to as "China Urban Development Association Urban Investment Committee") has released statistics on the total assets, business income, debt ratio, and credit rating of urban investment companies across the country in 2024.

This survey included 247 urban investment companies, among which 99 had assets exceeding 100 billion yuan, and 13 had assets breaking through 300 billion yuan, both figures surpassing those of 2023. Notably, for the first time in 2024, the business income of urban investment companies was released, with 54 urban investment companies reporting business income exceeding 10 billion yuan.

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In the view of many industry insiders, urban investment companies used to compete based on asset scale. As urban investment transformation deepens, these companies are more concerned with the issue of "second growth," and competition in business income may become a focus in the second half of the urban investment transformation.

The "hundred billion level" scale continues to expand.

The survey, commissioned by the China Urban Development Association Urban Investment Committee to Jiangsu Modern Asset Investment Management Consulting Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Modern Consulting Group"), shows that among the 247 urban investment companies, the number of those with assets over 100 billion yuan continues to grow, with 99 such companies, an increase of 9 compared to the previous year, accounting for over 40%.

Among them, the top 10 urban investment companies all have assets above 300 billion yuan, with the entry threshold increasing by 38.889 billion yuan compared to 2023, a growth of 12.92%. Additionally, the total number of urban investment companies with assets above 300 billion yuan increased by 3 compared to the previous year, reaching 13. Furthermore, there are 16 companies with assets ranging from 200 billion to 300 billion yuan, and 70 companies with assets between 100 billion and 200 billion yuan.

Specifically, Tianjin Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. has 937.098 billion yuan, Beijing Infrastructure Investment Co., Ltd. has 874.733 billion yuan, and Shanghai Urban Investment (Group) Co., Ltd. has 798.346 billion yuan. Among them, Tianjin Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd.'s assets have broken through 900 billion yuan for the first time.

Looking at the average asset scale of urban investment companies, the total assets of the 247 urban investment companies amount to 27.68 trillion yuan, with an average asset scale of 112.099 billion yuan, an increase of 15.705 billion yuan compared to the previous year's 96.394 billion yuan, a growth rate of 16.29%. According to the data of the top 100 urban investment companies, the total asset scale amounts to 20.13 trillion yuan, accounting for 72.72% of the surveyed asset scale.

In terms of the annual increase in total assets, urban investment companies with an increase of more than 30% compared to the previous year include Karamay City Urban Construction Investment Development Co., Ltd., Panzhihua Urban Construction and Transportation (Group) Co., Ltd., Huainan Construction Development Holding (Group) Co., Ltd., and Qingyuan Desheng Investment Group Co., Ltd. Among them, Karamay City Urban Construction Investment Development Co., Ltd.'s total assets increased by 65.82% year-on-year; Huainan Construction Development Holding (Group) Co., Ltd.'s total assets increased by 31.21%, with the total asset amount breaking through 100 billion yuan for the first time.

Regarding the changes in the asset scale of urban investment companies in 2024, Ding Bokang, Chief Economist of Urban Investment Network and Chairman of Modern Consulting Group, believes that local governments have expanded the asset scale through the integration and reorganization of enterprises. On the one hand, this has increased the effective asset scale and qualifications of urban investment companies; on the other hand, integration and reorganization have been used as an important tool for the transformation and development of urban investment companies, guiding more high-quality resources, assets, and capital to gather towards urban investment companies, and better promoting the cultivation of new quality productive forces."Relative to the asset side, stock exchanges or associations of dealers place more emphasis on the sources of company revenue and cash flow during the bond issuance review for urban investment companies. They believe that the income of urban investment companies, especially market-oriented operational income, is the true source for reducing debt scale and lowering debt risk, and it is also a key indicator of market-oriented transformation," said Ding Bokang.

The credit rating situation of related entities shows that among the top 100 companies by total assets, there are 55 urban investment companies with AAA credit ratings, and among the top 100 companies by operating income, there are 54 urban investment companies with AAA credit ratings, accounting for more than 50% in both asset and revenue top 100 urban investments. Looking at different regions, urban investment companies with higher credit ratings are mainly distributed in more economically developed areas. There are 61 urban investment companies with AAA credit ratings, among which 37 are in the eastern region, accounting for 60.66%; 15 are in the central region, accounting for 24.59%; 7 are in the western region, accounting for 11.48%; and 2 are in the northeastern region, accounting for 3.28%.

Focusing on operating income, it is worth mentioning that for the first time, this statistical release includes the operating income situation of urban investment companies across the country, showing the current market-oriented transformation development trend of urban investment companies from more dimensions.

Data shows that there are 54 companies with operating income over ten billion yuan, and the top 10 urban investment companies all have operating income over 30 billion yuan. Among them, there are 4 companies with operating income over 50 billion yuan, 15 companies with operating income between 20 billion and 50 billion yuan, and 35 companies with operating income between 10 billion and 20 billion yuan.

Specifically, the urban investment companies with operating income over 50 billion yuan include: Ningbo Tongshang Holding Group Co., Ltd. with 71.411 billion yuan, Hangzhou City Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. with 64.529 billion yuan, Fuzhou City Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. with 63.619 billion yuan, and Nanchang Municipal Public Utilities Group Co., Ltd. with 61.2 billion yuan.

Looking at the average operating income of urban investment companies, the total operating income of 247 urban investment companies is 1927.248 billion yuan, with an average revenue of 7.803 billion yuan. According to the data statistics of the top 100 urban investment companies, the total operating income is 1563.885 billion yuan, accounting for 81.15% of the statistical operating income data.

Ding Bokang believes that under the promotion of the exchange's "335 indicators ['3' means that the proportion of non-operational assets (urban construction assets) in total assets does not exceed 30%; '3' means that the proportion of non-operational income (urban construction income) in total income does not exceed 30%; '5' means that the proportion of financial subsidies in net profit should not exceed 50%]", some urban investment companies have achieved substantial growth in enterprise asset scale through the revitalization and injection of existing assets. This indicates that some enterprises have realized that the development of urban investment has undergone substantial changes at this stage, and urban investment is shifting from the incremental thinking of "large-scale demolition and construction" to the stock thinking of "refined management and operation".

The third plenary session of the 20th Party Congress put forward new requirements for the transformation and development of urban investment platforms, emphasizing the classification reform as the main method, focusing on the functional positioning of state-owned enterprises, and promoting the reform and transformation of state-owned capital and enterprises, which is more targeted in improving the effectiveness of the reform.

In the view of many industry insiders, this requires urban investment companies to pay more attention to the "second growth" issue of enterprise efficiency and benefits.Ding Bokang suggests that urban investment companies should start from the modern industrial system and the functional positioning of enterprises, comprehensively consider the transformation path of enterprises, and avoid blindly following the trend to transform into industrial investment enterprises, but rather adopt a "city investment + industrial investment" model. It is also crucial not to focus solely on adjusting financial structures based on debt and financing to meet credit rating requirements and achieve financing needs.

He Kejia, Vice Chairman of the China Urban Development Research Association, believes that as an important platform for urban development and construction, the mission of urban investment companies drives urban transformation. He suggests that urban investment companies should accelerate the assetization of urban public data to improve financial performance and reduce financial leverage, expand financing channels and revitalize assets, promote the transformation of urban investment and industrial upgrading, and increase the speed of digital economic development and the return on investment for the main investors.

Tan Zhiguo, Deputy General Manager of China Investment Consulting Co., Ltd., believes that urban investment companies should aim to become a comprehensive local state-owned capital investment and operation platform, and be the most reliable and dependable strong force for local governments in urban and rural construction and operation, industrial upgrading and development. The focus should be on solving positioning issues, funding issues, efficiency issues, and adhering to the risk bottom line. By planning strategic layout, improving credit ratings, innovating investment and financing models, increasing industrial investment, building ecological circles, improving market-oriented mechanisms, and strengthening risk prevention and control, high-quality development can be achieved.