Amid a prolonged economic slowdown, China is starting to loose its grip on the world's largest companies.
Chinese banking giants ICBC and China Construction Bank still claim the top two spots on the Forbes' 2017 Global 2000 list of the world’s biggest and most powerful public companies, as measured by a composite score of revenues, profits, assets and market value. However, that's down from the top three spots the Middle Kingdom held in 2016 and the top four spots in 2015.
The country's robust banking sector has struggled to overcome slowing economic growth, an increase in regulatory scrutiny and billions of dollars in bad loans. The Chinese economy grew at a 6.7% pace last year, which is a far cry from the double-digit growth the country experienced a decade ago. Agricultural Bank of China slid three spots to No. 6 and Bank of China slid two spots to No. 8.
China's e-commerce companies have continued their ascent, with Alibaba rising 34 spots to No. 140 and JD.com climbing 141 spots to No. 659. Meanwhile, state-owned oil company PetroChina plunged by 85 spots to No. 102 due to low oil prices.
The country is still an economic powerhouse and despite its challenges revenue from Chinese companies on the list increased 2% to $3.9 trillion over the trailing 12 months, while profits slid 3% to $368 billion.
The FORBES Global 2000 ranking is based on a composite score from equally-weighted measures of revenue, profits, assets and market value. The 2017 list features public companies from 58 countries that together account for $35.3 trillion in revenue, $2.5 trillion in profit, $169.1 trillion of assets, and have a combined market value of $48.8 trillion, up 10% from the year prior.
Amid a prolonged economic slowdown, China is starting to loose its grip on the world's largest companies.
