A total of 44 Chinese mainland and Hong Kong businesses were among the world's 500 biggest companies by market capitalization as of the end of last year, exceeding the number of Japanese counterparts, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
The number of Chinese businesses in the biggest 500 doubled from a year earlier, while Japanese companies decreased by eight to 40, the Nikkei newspaper said yesterday, without citing anyone.
PetroChina Co replaced Exxon Mobil Corp as the world's largest company after getting listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange last year, Bloomberg News reported, citing the Japanese-language newspaper.
Included in the largest 500 are 15 Indian companies and 12 Russian businesses, many of which provide natural gas, industrial materials or banking services, the Nikkei newspaper said.
