Since 2018, the United States has surpassed China for the first time in the number of companies listed in the Fortune Global 500, becoming the country with the most companies on the global list.
Despite long-standing dominance by American companies like Walmart and Amazon in the Fortune Global 500, in the past six years, China has had more companies listed on the Fortune Global 500 than the US.
However, according to the latest rankings published by Fortune magazine, the US has 139 companies listed, while the Greater China region (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) has only 133 companies.
Among them, Taiwan has a total of 5 companies included in the Fortune Global 500, including Foxconn at 32nd, TSMC at 186th, Quanta at 375th, Gigabyte at 444th, and CPC Corporation at 465th. Excluding these companies, the gap between China and the US would be even more significant.
Overall, the total revenue of US companies in the Fortune Global 500 has increased compared to the previous year, with “total revenue reaching $13.8 trillion, an increase of 6% from last year.”
Of the top ten US companies listed, six are American, including Walmart and Amazon at the top two spots, as well as Apple, UnitedHealth Group, Berkshire Hathaway founded by Buffett, and CVS Health, the largest pharmacy chain in the US.
In contrast, only three Chinese companies made it to the top ten, including State Grid, Sinopec, and China National Petroleum Group.
When Fortune magazine updated its list of the Global 500, the Chinese economy was facing challenges. Many analysts believe that China’s growth prospects have deteriorated.
Due to the heavy reliance of the Chinese authorities on massive state investment and cheap credit for industrial capacity building, the excessive investment in manufacturing has weakened consumer spending and rapidly inflated the real estate bubble.
However, the ongoing downturn in the real estate sector has become a serious drag on the Chinese economy, as industrial output in China far exceeds the sustainable absorption capacity of domestic or foreign markets. Some analysts believe this could lead to a vicious cycle of price declines, bankruptcies, factory closures, and rising unemployment rates in the Chinese economy.
With weak domestic demand, Chinese companies have had to sell their products in overseas markets. However, an increasing number of countries are beginning to impose trade barriers or other measures on cheap Chinese goods to protect their domestic manufacturing industries.
According to official data released by the Chinese government (which many experts question for its accuracy), China’s export growth rate in July was the lowest in three months, falling short of expectations, casting a shadow over the prospects of China’s vast manufacturing sector.
Economic competition between the US and China has also become a major political issue in the US, with former President Trump recently stating that if he were to return to office, he would take a tough stance on trade with China.
Trump previously stated that if he won this year’s presidential election, he would raise tariffs on Chinese imports to 60% or higher, which would have a more severe impact on the Chinese economy than his first term. Besides higher tariffs, the current Chinese economy is also more fragile.
Patrick Zweifel, Chief Economist at Pictet Asset Management, predicts that if Trump implements the policy of raising tariffs, China’s economic growth rate in 2025 could drop from an expected 4.8% to around 3.4%.
It is currently unclear how Democratic presidential candidate Harris differs from Trump in her economic policies towards China, but the Biden administration has also implemented targeted tariff policies on China.