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On August 5, the latest Fortune Global 500 list was released.

The total operating revenue of the Fortune Global 500 companies this year is about 41 trillion US dollars, equivalent to one-third of the global GDP, a slight increase of about 0.1% over last year. The threshold for this year's list (minimum sales revenue) has increased from 30.9 billion US dollars to 32.1 billion US dollars. The total net profit of all listed companies increased by 2.3% year-on-year to about 2.97 trillion US dollars.

Except that the total profit of the 500 companies was slightly lower than that of the companies on the list in the previous year (2022), other indicators, including total assets, total net assets and total number of employees employed, have reached the highest level since the establishment of the Fortune Global 500 list.

Walmart remains at the top, Amazon returns to second place

Walmart has topped the Fortune Global 500 list for 11 consecutive years and has topped the list 19 times since 1995.

Amazon returned to second place. China's State Grid Corporation continued to rank third. Saudi Aramco and Sinopec ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

The overall profits of the 500 companies are back on track. In 2023, the total profits of the world's top 500 companies will be close to 3 trillion US dollars, an increase of 2.3% over the previous year. Although Saudi Aramco's profits fell by about 24% year-on-year, it still topped the profit list with a profit of about 120.7 billion US dollars; three American technology companies - Apple, Google's parent company Alphabet and Microsoft ranked second, fourth and fifth respectively in the most profitable companies (profit list).

Berkshire Hathaway, the company with the largest loss in last year's Fortune 500 list, ranked third in this year's profit list with a profit of more than 96.2 billion US dollars. Three Chinese companies entered the top ten of the profit list, all of which are commercial banks: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China. Among them, the profit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China exceeded 51.4 billion US dollars.

133 Chinese companies on the list with a total revenue of about US$11 trillion

This year, including companies from Taiwan, there are 133 Chinese companies on the list, 9 fewer than last year. Among them, 128 companies from mainland China (including Hong Kong) and 5 companies from Taiwan are on the list.

This year, the total revenue of the 133 Chinese companies on the list in 2023 is approximately US$11 trillion, a decrease of approximately 6% compared with the 142 companies on the list last year; the average sales revenue is approximately US$83 billion, slightly higher than the average of the 500 companies on the list.

A total of 139 companies from the United States made the list this year, three more than last year, ranking first among all countries in terms of the number of large companies.

Japan ranks third with 40 companies on the list, one less, continuing its downward trend. Today, the United States, China and Japan together contribute about two-thirds of the companies, revenues and profits on the list.

The rise of China's automobile industry: 10 companies enter the Fortune Global 500, Chery is on the list for the first time

While we can see the problems in the development of Chinese enterprises, we can also find groups of Chinese enterprises that have achieved new breakthroughs. Among the 15 fields in which Chinese enterprises are listed, the development of "automobiles and auto parts" is relatively prominent, with a total of 10 Chinese automobile and auto parts enterprises entering the 2024 Fortune Global 500.

Among these 10 companies, Chery entered the list for the first time, ranking 385th with a revenue of US$39.1 billion. The rankings of the other nine companies mostly rose year-on-year.

Last year, BYD was the Chinese company that improved the most in ranking. This year, the company's revenue increased from $63 billion to $85.1 billion, and its ranking rose by 69 places compared to last year.

Meanwhile, CATL’s revenue increased from $48.8 billion to $56.6 billion this year after making its debut on the list last year. Geely’s revenue also moved up 40 places, from $60.4 billion to $70.4 billion.

These companies have driven Chinese cars, especially electric cars, to the world market. Wang Zhile, a special writer for Fortune Chinese, believes that Chinese companies such as Huawei, BYD and CATL are already world-class companies with considerable competitiveness.

Internet rebounds: Pinduoduo makes its first appearance on the list, JD.com enters the top 50

This time, among the 128 companies in mainland China (including Hong Kong), excluding 5 new and re-listed companies, and 6 companies whose rankings remained unchanged, 46 companies rose in ranking, but 71 companies fell in ranking.

Among them, the ranking of large companies in the Internet field has risen as a whole. Among the five Internet giants, except for Alibaba, which dropped two places, the rankings of JD.com, Tencent and Meituan have all improved, and Pinduoduo has made the list for the first time.

Benefiting from the recovery of China's Internet industry, Meituan became the Chinese company with the largest ranking improvement in the list, jumping 83 places to 384th place. JD.com, ranked 47th, entered the top 50 for the first time, replacing Ping An of China as the largest private company in mainland China.

Other highlights of the list

• There are 43 new and re-listed companies this time, of which 13 are new companies and 30 are returning companies.Nvidia made its first appearance on the list, ranking 222nd.
• The rankings of 15 companies jumped at least 100 places compared with the previous year, among which UBS Group rose 165 places, the company with the largest ranking increase in this list.
• A quarter of the Fortune Global 500 companies are headquartered in Beijing, Tokyo, New York, Shanghai and Seoul.
• The five major industries of finance, energy, vehicles and parts, high technology and healthcare account for 60% of the total number of companies on the list and 65% of the total revenue. Among them, the financial industry ranks first among all industries, generating $8.6 trillion in revenue.
• The profits of eight companies on the list increased by at least 1,000% compared with the previous year, with General Electric's profits increasing by 4,114%.
• Among the companies on this year's list, large technology companies are quite profitable: Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta Platforms generated a total of $282.2 billion in net income.
• The CEOs of 27 companies on the list are women, two fewer than last year.
• Since 1995, 140 companies have never fallen off the list.

Attached is the complete list of Fortune Global 500 in 2024: