The annual Fortune Global 500 list garners significant attention. The shift in focus from the "number of companies on the list" to the "quality of companies on the list" indicates that the public is increasingly concerned with the profitability and overall operational capabilities of businesses, which also indirectly reflects that Chinese companies have taken a leading position in the number of companies listed.

Years ago, Chinese companies were consistently overshadowed by the United States and Japan on the Global 500 list. With the enhancement of China's economic strength, the number of Chinese companies listed has successively surpassed those of Japan and the United States, ranking first in the world.

In the latest 2023 Global 500 list, China has 142 companies listed, still ranking first globally, while the United States, with 136 companies, ranks second in the world.

Therefore, compared to the number of companies on the list, the public is now more concerned about the quality of the listed companies, especially their profitability. After all, the ranking of the Global 500 is based on corporate revenue. Some companies may have a high revenue scale but suffer from chronic losses. Can such companies be called "500 Strong"? Perhaps they are more accurately described as the "500 Largest."

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Many companies have grown to a large scale, diversifying into numerous industries. However, due to poor management or continuous losses and substantial debt, they eventually go bankrupt. There are countless examples of this in reality.

Profits Top the World

Among the top 50 most profitable companies in the 2023 Global 500, Saudi Aramco leads by a significant margin, with a net profit of $159 billion last year, making it the first company in the world to break through the $100 billion net profit mark. According to the latest exchange rate, Saudi Aramco's net profit is equivalent to 1.16 trillion yuan.

Saudi Aramco's net profit is almost equivalent to three times that of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and exceeds Apple's by more than 400 billion yuan. Its profit level is on par with that of China Tobacco.

It's important to note that China Tobacco's total tax and profit last year reached 1.44 trillion yuan. Of course, as a high-tax industry, most of the tobacco industry's profits are turned over to the state. Even globally, there are very few companies whose profit levels exceed a trillion yuan, indicating how substantial Saudi Aramco's profits are.

As the world's largest oil company, Saudi Aramco has leveraged its unique geographical location and extremely rich oil and gas resources to achieve躺着赚钱. The cost of oil extraction in Saudi Arabia is relatively low, and coupled with the sharp increase in international crude oil prices last year, Saudi Aramco has achieved impressive performance.In fact, last year, the global oil giants made a fortune, with ExxonMobil, the US oil giant, reporting a net profit of over 50 billion US dollars, higher than that of Samsung Electronics. PetroChina's net profit exceeded 20 billion US dollars, with the oil giants' performance all turning red.

Comparison of Profits Between Chinese and American Companies

The number of Chinese companies on the list has already surpassed that of the United States. How about their profit performance?

First, let's take a look at the most profitable company in the United States. According to the list data, the most profitable company in the United States is Apple Inc., with a net profit of 99.8 billion US dollars on the list, ranking second in global profits. According to the latest exchange rate, Apple's annual profit is 728.6 billion RMB, which is equivalent to a net profit of nearly 2 billion RMB per day.

Secondly, the most profitable company in China is the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), with a net profit of 53.5 billion US dollars. According to the latest exchange rate, it is equivalent to 390.6 billion RMB, ranking seventh in global profits.

There is a significant difference in profits between the two most profitable companies in China and the United States. Apple's profit is more than 30 billion more than that of ICBC, and one is a technology company, while the other is a large bank known as "the world's largest bank."

The obvious difference is that among the top 50 most profitable companies globally, the United States has a large number of technology giants on the list, and they are leading in rankings. However, almost all Chinese companies on the list are banks, with a relatively small number of technology companies.

The average profit of Chinese companies on the list is less than 4 billion US dollars, while the average profit of American companies has reached 8 billion US dollars. The gap is still significant. To catch up with the average profit of American companies, a large number of enterprises in high-profit industries such as technology, automobiles, and semiconductors need to be cultivated.

The United States led the third industrial revolution and led the global wave of information technology, giving birth to technology giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple, achieving a world-leading position in the field of technology. The fourth industrial revolution is crucial next, and 5G, artificial intelligence, and big data are the core. If our country can lead the fourth industrial revolution, a large number of technology companies with an international vision will emerge.

At the same time, the financial industry should give benefits to the entity and better serve the entity. The essence of finance is to better serve the real economy, cultivate more manufacturing and technology industry giants, and this is also the necessary path for our country to move towards a strong technology and manufacturing power.