These are the best companies to work for in China in 2019, according to LinkedIn

More than half of China's top employers have internet and technology services at the core of their business, according to a new study from LinkedIn.

Technology companies made up 15 of China's top 25 companies to work for in 2019, the professional services site found, highlighting the country's quickly evolving IT scene.

The "top companies" list is based on feedback from LinkedIn's more than 40 million users in China. The study looks at four main pillars: interest in the company; engagement with employees; job demand; and employee retention.*

To be eligible, companies must have had at least 500 employees as of Feb 1. 2018 and demonstrate flat or positive employee growth over the following 12 months, based on LinkedIn's data.

The annual list forms part of LinkedIn's wider analysis of its more than 610 million users. Those findings have been used to determine the top companies to work for across Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S.

LinkedIn and its parent company Microsoft were excluded from the research for fairness. So were all non-profits, staffing and recruiting firms, and educational and governmental institutions.

Here are the best companies to work for in China:

25. The Walt Disney Company — Entertainment

24. IQVIA — Hospital and healthcare

23. SAP — Computer software

22. Xiaomi Technology — Internet

21. Procter & Gamble — Consumer goods

20. Unilever — Consumer goods

19. Tencent — Internet

18. Xiaohongshu — Internet

17. Oracle — Information technology and services

16. Kwai Inc — Information technology and services

15. Apple — Technology

14. L'Oreal — Cosmetics

13. JD.com — Internet

12. NetEase — Internet

11. Ant Financial — Internet

Industry: Internet

Offices: Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen

Initially launched in Beijing in 2010 as a group-discount website selling discount vouchers, a merger in 2015 saw the business expand into a review site and, later, a delivery service. Today, Meituan-Dianping has morphed into what it calls a "life service e-commerce platform," offering services covering takeaway, taxis, shared bikes and hotels.

Industry: Telecommunications

Offices: Shenzhen and nationwide

Despite being embroiled in an ongoing spat with U.S. authorities, Chinese telecoms manufacturer Huawei Technologies scored a top spot in LinkedIn's top companies list this year. Aside from telecoms, the tech giant has a particular focus on IT, smart devices and cloud services. Innovative design is not limited to its products, however. Earlier this year it revealed its new Dongguan-based campus, designed to look like Europe and house 25,000 employees.

Industry: Internet

Offices: Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Harbin, Jinan, Kunshan, Nanning, Shanghai, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xi'an and Xiamen

U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon first entered China in 2004 with the acquisition of Beijing-headquartered online bookstore Joyo.com. It has since grown rapidly in the country in a bid to compete with homegrown e-commerce giants like Alibaba and today operates more than a dozen business centers across China.

Industry: Internet

Offices: Nationwide

Didi, otherwise know as Didi Chuxing, is a Chinese ride-sharing, artifiicial intelligence and autonomous technology business headquartered in Beijing. Founded less than seven years ago, Didi acquired Uber's China unit in 2016 and its platform now supports an estimated 25 million users and 21 million drivers, according to the company's LinkedIn page.

Industry: Automotive

Offices: Beijing

U.S. auto company Tesla made its debut among China's top companies list this year after Elon Musk signed a deal to build a new plant in Shanghai — its first outside of the U.S. — in an effort to harness the country's growing appetite for electric vehicles. Elsewhere, China is also home to a Tesla research and development center.

Industry: Automotive

Offices: Beijing, Changshu, Hefei, Kunshan, Nanjing and Shanghai

Chinese auto manufacturer Nio was founded in Shanghai in 2014. With a specific focus on electric vehicles, the company employs more than 8,000 employees across China, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. in areas such as research and development, engineering and manufacturing.

Industry: Investment management

Offices: Beijing and Shanghai

Fosun is an international investment company with Chinese offices in Beijing and Shanghai. With a mission to achieve "health, happiness and wealth," the firm's investment portfolio includes pharma, travel and insurance companies. The firm is also keen to engage in charitable projects through its Fosun Foundation.

Industry: Internet

Offices: Beijing and Shanghai

Launched in 2012, ByteDance is a Chinese internet tech business responsible for several content platforms including news site Toutiao (meaning headlines) and video-sharing app TikTok. Increasingly, the company is focused on using machine-learning technology to tailor their product to audience's interests. ByteDance is also involved in a number of charitable projects supporting women and children.

Industry: Internet

Offices: Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen

Baidu is China's answer to Google and the second-largest search engine in the world. Baidu's name, which literally means "hundreds of times," represents the company's persistent search for the ideal, a note on its website says, and explains its expansion in the 18 years since launch. Like its closest competitor, Baidu today is investing heavily in autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence.

Industry: Information technology and services

Offices: Hangzhou

Jack Ma's brainchild Alibaba Group started life in 1999 as Chinese online retailer and has since ballooned into a global tech giant with capabilities in e-commerce, internet and artificial intelligence. Today, the company is one of the world's 10 most valuable and, last year, became the second Asia company to pass the $500 billion valuation mark.

Despite having more than 66,000 employees, outgoing chairman Ma has been celebrated for his leadership, which goes some way in explaining Alibaba's ascent to the top of this year's list.

* Interest in the company is measured by unique, non-employee views and follows of the company's LinkedIn page. Employee engagement looks at how many non-employees are viewing unique employees at the company. Job demand counts the rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid job postings on LinkedIn. Employee retention measures how many employees are still at the company at least one year after their date of hire, based on LinkedIn member profiles.

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