It is reported that two private enterprises out of a total of 69 Chinese companies have been listed in the Fortune Global 500 for 2010.

Experts said it demonstrates the national economy should be further opened to the private sector by increasing the current policies designed to encourage the private economy.

Boosted by China rapid economic growth, 15 Chinese companies entered the list for the first time making the country the second largest contributor in terms of the number of companies listed and second only to the United States. Of the Chinese companies listed, 61 are located on the mainland.

The two private companies are the manufacturer of telecommunications equipment Huawei Technologies Co Ltd which ranks 351st and the Jiangsu based steelmaker Shagang Group at 366th.

Analysts said China has implemented a series of policies to give the private sector access to areas currently dominated by major State owned companies. But the step should be bolder.

Mr Li Zhongmin an investment research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said China should create a better investment environment for private companies and encourage them to enter the monopolized industries to make them larger and stronger.

He said that "Private companies are pillars that can be relied on to improve the nation international competitive strength but both state owned and foreign companies enjoy a more favorable investment environment than the private ones in China."

Mr Wang Zhile director of the Research Centre for Transnational Corporations at the Ministry of Commerce said that the relatively smaller scale of private Chinese companies makes it hard for them to get onto the list because the Fortune rankings simply list the companies by revenue.

He said that the number of Chinese companies on the list has risen for the eighth consecutive year and more will appear in the future. However, the list does not necessarily reflect real corporate competitiveness.

He added that "The list only tracks companies annual revenue but being a big company doesn't necessarily mean that it will be strong and long lasting."

Three States owned companies China Petrochemical Corporation or Sinopec, China National Petroleum Corp and the State Grid Corporation of China joined the top 10.

The US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc is the largest company on the list, followed by Royal Dutch Shell Group and the Exxon Mobil Corporation. Sinopec ranked fifth among the top players is China largest company by revenue while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ranks as the nation most profitable company.

The four largest banks and two other State owned companies, China Mobile Ltd and China National Petroleum Corp were also among the top 50 companies listed.

Economists said the increasing number of Chinese companies on the list is a result of the country robust domestic market and the appreciation of the yuan has also helped more companies as their revenues are calculated in US dollar which has been depreciating against the yuan.

(Sourced from www.chinadaily.com.cn)