Jiangsu Shagang Group ranks second on the 2020 list of Suzhou's top 100 private companies. [Photo/zjgonline.com.cn]

A total of 17 Zhangjiagang firms were included on the 2020 list of Suzhou's top 100 private companies, more than any other area of Suzhou, local news reported on Aug 7.

Jiangsu Shagang Group ranked second on the list with an operating revenue of more than 252 billion yuan ($36.3 billion) in 2019, followed by Jiangsu Yonggang Group and Jiangsu Guotai International Group.

The list, which was unveiled by Suzhou's association of industry and commerce, was designed to encourage the high-quality development of Suzhou's private companies. The threshold for entering the list this year was 1.66 billion yuan. Among the top 100 companies, five companies recorded a gross revenue of more than 100 billion yuan last year.

Seventy-two of the shortlisted companies in the manufacturing industry and 21 were in the service sector.