Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

With the introduction of PetroChina (PTR) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Monday, it is expected the China behemoth will surpass Exxon Mobile (XOM) as the world's largest company, based on market value.

Even so, it will still be far behind Exxon in net income, as PetroChina had $10.9 billion in net income in the first half of 2007, while Exxon Mobile almost doubled that with $19.5 billion, making it much more profitable.

When the markets closed on Friday, PetroChina was valued at $460 billion, bringing it within $26 billion of Exxon Mobile. It seems like a formidable task to overcome that much of a lead, but Chinese investors are flush with cash and ready to offer a huge investment infusion into the company.

Shares for the company are projected to reach about 30 yuan to 50 yuan on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, equal to about $4 to $6.70, which would be enough to help PetroChina reach the largest market value in the world.

This is still a huge story, as just on October 16 PetroChina passed General Electric  (GE) to become the second-largest company in the world, valued then at $434 billion.

At the same time, there is some manipulation by the Chinese government to reach this milestone, as it increased gas prices last week in preparation for the Shanghai listing.

All of this is a boasting tool of course, as there will be a time when the various Chinese exchanges will have their first huge bubble burst; it's at that time that we'll really see how healthy their economy and companies really are, and how and if the central government of the company can do anything about it.

But for a short time, we'll probably see PetroChina sitting on the top of the business world as the largest company in the world. The question is how long will they be able to remain there.