A night view of the Beijing CBD on Sept 9, 2018. (Photo: IC)

Washington (People’s Daily) - The number of Chinese companies based in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong on Fortune's 2020 Global 500 list surpassed the number of US companies for the first time this year, according to the magazine's latest list.

There are 124 Fortune Global 500 companies based in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, and the total jumps to 133 if companies in Taiwan region are also added. The US had 121 companies.

Walmart once again tops the list, followed by three Chinese companies — Sinopec, State Grid and China National Petroleum.

Fortune Editor-in-Chief Cliff Leaf points out that when the Global 500 list first came out in 1990, there were no Chinese companies on it. In the next three decades, the Chinese economy skyrocketed, powered by a global trade boom.

Leaf also said that the latest list shows the US and Chinese economies are intertwined in so many ways, and it’s hard to imagine them ever truly “decoupling.”