Fortune Global 500: Chinese giants' revenues surpass US counterparts

The revenues of Chinese companies on the Fortune Global 500 list exceeded that of their U.S. counterparts for the first time in fiscal 2021, according to the magazine's annual ranking released on Wednesday.

The revenues from Chinese companies on the list accounted for 31 percent of the total, surpassing their U.S. equivalents, which accounted for 30 percent.

Aggregate sales for the Fortune Global 500 jumped 19 percent, the highest annual growth rate in the list's history.

Sales by Global 500 companies hit $37.8 trillion, equivalent to two-fifths of global GDP in 2021.

"The rebound from COVID-19 created a huge tailwind for the world's largest companies by revenue," Fortune said.

Walmart topped the revenue chart, followed by Amazon. Chinese energy giants State Grid, China National Petroleum, and Sinopec made the top five.

Saudi Aramco was the world's most profitable company, with $105 billion in earnings. The three major Chinese commercial banks – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank, and Agricultural Bank of China – were among the 10 most profitable on the list.

The combined net income of all the companies on the list was over $3 trillion, surging 88 percent yearly, the biggest gain since 2004.

Despite increased profitability among Chinese companies, the data showed that they still lag behind their international peers.

The average profit of the 145 Chinese companies on the list was about $4.1 billion, $2.1 billion short of the average.

Chinese internet giants JD.com, Alibaba and Tencent moved up the chart, ranking 46th, 55th and 121st, respectively, their best performance since entering the list.

The chart ranked companies by their total operating income for fiscal 2021, which ended on March 31, 2022.