China now leads the world in the number of publicly traded companies with market values of more than $200 billion. China passed the United States in that regard this year, with 8 companies among the 20 most highly valued ones in world stock markets. The United States has seven, Western Europe has four and Russia has one.
In 1989, it was Japan that stood atop the stock market table, with 14 of the top 20 companies by market capitalization. A decade later, rather than Japanese banks, it was technology and communications companies that dominated the world markets.
Now it is China's trade surplus that angers American politicians, and it is China's success that has inspired a long list of books. Chinese companies have profited from owning stakes in other companies whose stocks are soaring.
China's stock prices have also been pushed up because there is a limited number of shares available for investors to buy, with most shares controlled by the Chinese government. There is a parallel to 1999, when only a small portion of shares in many American technology companies had been sold to the public, creating a limited supply as investors crowded in.
Eight Chinese companies on the top 20 are: Petrochina, China Mobile, Industrial and Commercial Bank, China Petroleum, China Life, China Construction, China Shenhua Energy, and Bank of China. (Source: Floyd Norris, New York Times, Oct 20, 2007).