40% of Fortune 500 companies Asian, India has 7 in list

The latest edition of the Fortune Global 500 list, which ranks companies by their revenues in 2016, has a distinctly Asian flavour to it.With 197 companies on the list based on its soil, Asia is now home to more of these global giants than any other continent, leaving North America (145) and Europe (143) slugging it out for second spot. The rest of the world has a mere 15 companies on the list.The US continues to have the largest presence on the elite list with 132 firms, but China is not too far behind at 109 and is leading the Asian drive to the top. Japan, with 51, is in third spot; South Korea has 15 while India has seven. Only one of the seven Indian companies is in the top 200 —Indian Oil, ranked 168th.The other six Indian companies in the Fortune 500 list are Reliance Industries (203), State Bank of India (217), Tata Motors (247), Rajesh Exports (295), Bharat Petroleum (360) and Hindustan Petroleum (384).Walmart remains Numero Uno with revenues of $485,873, but the next three slots are occupied by Chinese firms, State Grid, Sinopec and China Petroleum, all in the energy sector.Toyota, Volkswagen, Royal Dutch Shell, Berkshire Hathway, Apple and Exxon Mobil complete the top 10.Between themselves, the 500 companies on the list generated $27.7 trillion in revenues and $1.5 trillion in profits in 2016 and employed 67 million people. There are companies based in 34 different countries represented on the list. However, the top five countries between themselves — which include Germany and France with 29 firms each — account for 350 of the 500 firms or around 70% of the entries on the list.They also account for $20.7 trillion or about three-quarters of the revenues of the entire list.While China’s Fortune Global 500 presence has over the years been dominated by state-owned firms and that remains true even today, there are several private corporations like Huawei, the telecom equipment giant, also in the list.