Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei topped the list of China's Most Admired Knowledge Company, released by Chinese business magazine Sino-manager on Wednesday, with Chinese automaker BYD and Internet search company Baidu ranking second and third.

Yang Junjie, the ex-editor-in-chief of the magazine in charge of the rankings, explained in the press release that a knowledge company referred to an enterprise providing high value-added products or services driven by new knowledge.

The list announced the top 20 companies that received the highest marks in the survey conducted by the magazine, with 11 in the sector of information technology (IT).

Of those, four are Internet companies, three make electronics products, two are telecom companies, two are computer corporations and two deal in software, signaling that IT is rapidly advancing in China and tends to generate knowledge companies.

 
Yang said the companies that were crowned "most admired knowledge companies" shared some qualities, such as, their products and services are appreciated by their clients, the products are attractive to customers and the brands are influential in the market, the company is attractive to talents and encourages growth of the people it hires and the company has growth potential and investment value.

The rankings were based on a survey that evaluated companies in 53 industries and 15 were chosen from each industry. Then, 20 companies with the best comprehensive performance were selected to form the final list.