SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) - China is rapidly widening its footprint in the global corporate landscape while the Korean Inc. has remained stagnant, according to an analysis by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
KCCI study of Forbes’ Global 2000 rankings showed that the number of Chinese firms on the list surged to 275 this year from 180 in 2015. By contrast, Korean names thinned from 66 to 62 over the same period. The U.S. population strengthened from 575 to 612.
The gap is more evident in revenue growth. Over the past decade, the Korean Inc. expanded by 15 percent - from $1.5 trillion to $1.7 trillion. During the same period, U.S. firms surged by 63 percent from $11.9 trillion to $19.5 trillion, while Chinese names nearly doubled from $4 trillion to $7.8 trillion.
“The data show that China’s corporate ecosystem has been fueled by new players, while the U.S. has rapidly transformed through advanced technologies such as AI,” the KCCI said.
In the U.S., corporate expansion was driven by tech and healthcare powerhouses such as Nvidia, UnitedHealth, Microsoft and CVS Health. Newcomers like Tesla, Uber and Airbnb also boosted the ecosystem’s dynamism.
China’s rise owed to e-commerce giant Alibaba, EV maker BYD, gaming and media leader Tencent, joined by companies like Xiaomi, ride-hailing platform Didi Global and IT services provider Digital China.
Korea, meanwhile, relied heavily on traditional names. Chipmaker SK hynix, LG Chem, KB Financial Group and Hana Financial Group made strides. New entrants to the Global 2000 were mostly financial companies such as Samsung Securities, KakaoBank and Kiwoom Securities.
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