The 2025 “Fortune” Global 500 list has been released, showing that while the number of Chinese enterprises on the list is comparable to that of American enterprises, the average profit of Chinese companies is lower, less than half of that of the United States. Experts analyze that this phenomenon reflects the “deep-seated systemic issues” behind China’s “digital prosperity”.
The U.S. “Fortune” magazine announced the 2025 “Global Fortune 500” on July 29, with the United States retaining the highest number of listed companies, followed by China ranking second. The rankings for 2025 are based on the full-year revenue of companies in 2024. The United States has 138 companies on the list, one less compared to 2024. China (including Hong Kong) has 124 companies listed, a decrease of 4 compared to 2024. Japan has a total of 38 companies on the list, ranking third overall.
The criteria for the Fortune Global 500 list is based on the size of business operations, not profit, so companies facing losses do not hinder their entry into the list.
The top-ranked company is the U.S. retail giant Walmart, maintaining its position as the world’s largest company for the twelfth consecutive year. The American multinational e-commerce company Amazon holds the second position. Walmart and Amazon have profits of $19.4 billion and $59.2 billion respectively.
Among the Chinese listed companies, state-owned enterprises and central enterprises account for about 70%. The three state-owned enterprises that made it into the top 10 in China are State Grid Corporation ranking third, China National Petroleum Corporation ranking fifth, and Sinopec Group ranking sixth. State Grid Corporation’s profit is $10 billion.
The top-ranking private enterprise in China is JD.com, ranking 44th, climbing three spots compared to last year. The Chinese company showing the most significant improvement in ranking is Pinduoduo, ranking 266th this year, a rise of 176 places from 2024.
Despite the comparable number of Chinese companies on the list, their average sales revenue lags behind American companies, with profits averaging less than half of U.S. companies.
The average profit of all Fortune Global 500 companies is $5.95 billion. The average profit of Chinese listed companies is $4.2 billion, about 70% of the overall average profit of all listed companies.
The average profit of the 138 U.S. listed companies is approximately $9.7 billion, 2.3 times that of Chinese listed companies and 1.6 times the overall average profit. The total profit of U.S. listed companies amounts to $1,337.4 billion, accounting for 45% of the total profits of all Fortune Global 500 companies.
Economic and political researcher Song Weijun stated on August 2 to Epoch Times, “Although the number of Chinese companies listed closely follows the United States, the ‘digital prosperity’ conceals deep-seated systemic issues.”
“Firstly, the average profit of Chinese companies is much lower than that of the U.S., especially for state-owned and central enterprises that dominate the list, accounting for up to 70%. They typically have ‘high income, low profit,’ indicating that these giants, while monopolizing resources and markets, exhibit inefficiency and redundant costs, heavily relying on government policy support.”
“This is the crux of the Chinese Communist Party’s system: accumulating scale through administrative power, yet lacking market competitiveness.”
Taiwanese listed companies boast a significantly higher average profit than Chinese companies. Taiwan has 6 companies listed, adding one compared to last year. The total profit of Taiwanese listed companies is $42.8 billion, with an average profit of approximately $7.1 billion, about 1.7 times the average profit of Chinese listed companies. The highest profit comes from TSMC, ranking 126th in the Fortune Global 500, with a profit of $36.1 billion.
The top-ranking Taiwanese company in the Global 500 is Foxconn Precision, ranking 28th with a profit of $4.8 billion. Among the listed Taiwan companies, the only one facing losses is CPC Corporation, Taiwan, ranking 494th with a loss of $1 billion.
The only Chinese listed company entering the top 10 in terms of profit is Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), with a profit of $50.8 billion. ICBC is one of China’s big four state-owned banks, with the other three also recording high profits: China Construction Bank with a profit of $46.6 billion, Agricultural Bank of China with a profit of $39.2 billion, and Bank of China with a profit of $33.1 billion.
Song Weijun remarked, “The astounding profits of the big four state-owned banks in China essentially rely on their monopoly position, concealing massive systemic risks tied to real estate and government debt.”
Four Chinese real estate companies made it onto the list, including China Poly Group Corporation Limited, Vanke Co., Ltd., Country Garden Holdings Co., Ltd., and Greenland Holdings.
Among them, Poly Group is a large central enterprise directly managed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and was formerly known as Poly Technologies Company Limited, a military equipment import and export window company. Aside from real estate, Poly Group is involved in international trade, cultural and artistic operations, mineral resource investment and development, civil explosion chemical industry, etc. Poly Group was ranked 173rd in the 2024 Fortune Global 500 but dropped to 199th in 2025.
Apart from Poly Group’s $600 million profit, the other three Chinese real estate companies are facing losses. Vanke Co., Ltd. (ranked 319) has a loss of $6.9 billion, the most severe among Chinese listed companies. Country Garden Holdings Co., Ltd. (ranked 460) reported a loss of $4.6 billion, followed by Greenland Holdings (ranked 480, down from 291 last year) with a loss of $2.2 billion.
Among the listed private enterprises in China, JD Group has a profit of $5.7 billion, BYD’s profit is $5.6 billion, and Tencent has the highest profit, reaching $27 billion. Pinduoduo’s profit is $15.6 billion, over 1.5 times that of State Grid Corporation’s profit ($10 billion).
Regarding the future prospects of private enterprises, Song Weijun believes, “In contrast, private enterprises like JD and Pinduoduo have thrived in globalization and technological innovation, yet they consistently face policy uncertainties and the sharp edge of official ‘supervision’.
“In the current context of economic downturn and fiscal contraction, whether these high-growth enterprises can sustain prosperity largely depends on whether the Chinese Communist Party is willing to genuinely protect private enterprises instead of exploiting them under the guise of economic ‘prosperity’. Otherwise, the short-term attractive data will be unable to conceal the long-term predicament.”