China overtakes Japan on Fortune 500 list

WASHINGTON — Two years after eclipsing Japan as the world's secondlargest economy, China on Monday stole the number-two spot on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest global companies from its Asian rival.

In its annual revenue rankings, Fortune magazine said that China overtook Japan for the first time, landing 73 companies on the list compared with Japan's 68 companies.

Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell retook the top spot, knocking off US retail titan Wal-Mart from a twoyear reign with 2011 revenues of $484.5 billion, up 28.1 percent from 2010.

The remaining members of the top 10 are, in descending order: ExxonMobil (US); Wal-Mart Stores (US); Britain's BP; Chinese companies Sinopec Group, China National Petroleum and State Grid; Chevron (US); ConocoPhillips (US) and Japan's Toyota Motor.

"Although the US still hosts the lion's share of Global 500 corporations, no country has lost more companies during the last decade. There are 132 USheadquartered businesses on this year's list, down from 197 a decade ago," the US business magazine said.

The rankings and composition of the list reflected the shifting global landscape as the United States faces mounting competition from foreign rivals.

China added 12 companies to the list this year, while the number of European firms fell to 161 amid the eurozone debt crisis, from 172 in 2011.

"One of the more remarkable shifts has been in the number of Chinese companies on the list," Fortune said, pointing out there were only 11 Chinese firms on the Global 500 in 2002, while the number of Japanese companies has fallen from 88.