Despite posting strong revenue, China’s multinationals logged US$4.5 billion profit in 2025, just 40 per cent of their US counterparts’ figure
2-MIN READ2-MINZhu Wenqianin BeijingPublished: 6:00pm, 29 Jul 2026China’s unaddressed economic structural problems are swallowing profits and leaving its multinationals falling far behind their US peers in the latest Fortune Global 500 list, despite its firms remaining strong in terms of revenue.The profit gap between Chinese and US companies has continued to widen. Chinese companies posted an average profit of US$4.5 billion in 2025, or some 40 per cent of the US$11.24 billion recorded by their US counterparts, according to the list released by Fortune magazine on Tuesday.Since 2021, the average profit of Chinese companies has climbed by 27 per cent. While average profits across all 500 firms rose by 105 per cent, those of US companies jumped 110 per cent.
“Falling profits among Chinese firms in recent years are largely an economic structural problem. New growth-driven investment is mainly led by the government, while private investment is on the decline. And soft consumption growth has hampered overall economic momentum and affected profits for traditional industries,” Tang said.
Amazon has become the world’s top firm by revenue, ending Walmart’s 12-year reign and putting the retail giant in second place, while China’s State Grid retained its spot at third. UnitedHealth Group and Saudi Aramco took fourth and fifth place, respectively.
