In 1996, a world-renowned magazineFortuneFor the first time, the world's top 500 companies were announcedIn this list, 151 U.S. companies and 149 Japanese companies were shortlisted.
At that time, there were only three companies in Chinese mainland that could be selected as one of the world's top 500.
However, over time, Japan's economic strength has continued to grow, and in 2011 it surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economic power.
So today, with the substantial growth of China's national strength, how has the latest Fortune 500 changed compared with 1995?
The assessment of the world's top 500 enterprises has been an important reference for evaluating the economic strength and international influence of various countries for many years.
In 1955, the world-renowned magazine "Fortune" selected a list of the world's top 500, but this list said to be the world's top 500, but its current companies are all American companies, so the reference value is not large.
It wasn't until 1996 that Fortune magazine actually published a list of the world's top 500 companies, including almost all the countries in the world, and the data on this list showed the world's top 500 companies in the previous year (that is, in 1995).
In the earliest list of the world's top 500, the United States and Japan became the biggest winners, with 151 and 149 companies successfully occupying half of the list, while only three companies in Chinese mainland were successfully shortlisted at that time.
However, as the saying goes, "Thirty years in the east of the river and thirty years in the west of the river".What is the situation in today's Fortune 500 list?
From 1995 to the present, the world's economic pattern has undergone tremendous changes, and the most remarkable of them is the rapid development of China's economy.
In 1995, China's overall economic level was not high, only 073 trillion dollars, compared to the GDP of the United States in the same period was 764 trillion dollars, Japan is 5$55 trillion.
It can be said that in 1995, we could only look up at the level of economic development of the United States and Japan.
However, with the continuous deepening of China's reform and opening up, China's overall economic development has been very rapid, especially after China's accession to the WTO, China's economic development has been further accelerated.
In the first decade of the 21st century, almost every year there was news on television that China's economic aggregate surpassed that of such and such a country. Finally, in 2010, China's total GDP surpassed Japan and ranked second in the world.
At the same time as China's economic aggregate continues to grow, the development of China's domestic enterprises has also been greatly improved, whether it is private enterprises or state-owned enterprises, its development speed has also accelerated.
Therefore, on the list of the world's top 500 companies, the number of Chinese companies has been growing almost every year, until 2020In the list of the world's top 500 companies released by Fortune magazine in 2019, the shortlisted Chinese mainland companies surpassed the United States for the first time.
This achievement is enough to show that China has made remarkable achievements in economic development in recent years.
Although in the latest list of the world's top 500 companies announced in August 2023, due to the impact of the epidemic in the second and fourth quarters of 2022,As a result, Chinese mainland has "only" 135 companies selected as the world's top 500 companies, less than the 136 in the United States.
However, if you add Chinese companies in China's treasure island area, the number of companies in China is 142, which is still the first in the world.
So, as the number of Chinese companies in the Fortune 500 continues to increase, how has the number of shortlisted companies in Japan and the United States changed?
In 1995, Japan was the second largest economic power in the world after the United States, and the total economic output of Japan at that time was equivalent to 17 of the total world economy at that time4%。
You must know that China's total economic output in 2021 will only reach 18 of the world5%, it can be seen that Japan in 1995 was undoubtedly an important economic power in the world at that time.
For the Chinese at that time, washing machines, televisions and radios produced in Japan played the same role as buying a car and a house today, and almost became several "big items" necessary for marriage.
It can be said that in the nineties of the last century, the Japanese economy reached its peak.
However, after the peak has passed, the Japanese economy has ushered in a "cold winter". withPlaza AccordJapan's economic bubble was gradually burst, and the Japanese economy fell into stagnation for nearly three decades.
In fact, in addition to the stagnation of the Japanese economy, Japan is facing many problems, the most obvious of which is thatThere is a serious aging problem in Japan.
According to a report by the Japan Times in 2023, the number of elderly people over 80 years old in Japan has exceeded 10% of the total population of Japan, and this has brought a serious economic burden to Japanese society.
In the face of such an economic burden, it is very difficult for the Japanese to develop their economies, not to mention that Japanese companies are still facing competition from other countries in the world on the international stage, so the problem of long-term stagnation of the Japanese economy still exists to this day.
During this period, the stagnation of the Japanese economy also seriously affected the development of Japanese companies, resulting in a decline in the number of Japanese companies on the Fortune 500 list year by year.
In the latest Fortune 500 list, the number of Japanese companies is only 41, a significant drop from 149 on the first list, which reflects the long-term stagnation of the Japanese economy.
In the list of the world's top 500 companies over the years, the performance of American companies has been relatively stableOn the one hand, the United States can ensure that hundreds of American companies are successfully selected into the world's top 500 every year, and on the other hand, American companies are also ranked very high in the top 500.
For example, Wal-Mart has won the first place among the world's top 500 companies ten times, so the overall strength and competitiveness of American companies are very strong.
And the reason why these American companies are so strong is actually inseparable from the hegemony of the United States itself on the global stage.
By virtue ofU.S. military, U.S. dollar, U.S. mediaWith these three means, the United States has an extremely powerful position in politics, economy and even the right to speak.
For example, in the financial crisis that broke out in 2008, in order to get rid of the pressure on its own economy, the United States implemented a monetary policy of quantitative easing, and solved the crisis by printing dollars on a large scale.
Although the United States has alleviated its own economic pressure to a certain extent, such economic pressure has not been eliminated, but has been transferred to other countries by the United States through the hegemony of the dollar.
Although from the perspective of other countries in the world, the Americans are acting very irresponsibly and can easily lead to a decline in the status of the dollar, with the guarantee of the strong comprehensive strength of the United States, the dollar is still an international currency to this day.
Therefore, although the US economy has experienced many twists and turns from 1995 to the present, the development of the US economy has always been at a relatively high level among the developed countries.
Although the number of American companies selected for the Fortune 500 in 2023 has declined slightly compared with 1995, the overall strength of American companies still exists.
In particular, in the top 10, American companies occupy half of the top 10, so it can be seen that the overall competitiveness of American companies is still very strong.
In the list of the world's top 500 companies, the number of Chinese enterprises is constantly growing, which shows that the overall level of development of China's economy is constantly improving.
However, we should also note that although there are a large number of Chinese companies selected for the world's top 500, the profit margins of Chinese enterprises are still relatively low compared with American companies.
Therefore, China still has a very large room for progress, and it is believed that with the continuous development of China's economy, the proportion of Chinese enterprises in the world's top 500 will be higher and higher.
Fortune magazine's official website.