43 Chinese companies have emerged on the latest Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's largest corporations. According to the list released on Wednesday, Royal Dutch Shell leapfrogged over Wal-Mart Stores and Exxon Mobil to take the top spot.

In 2008, sales revenue for Royal Dutch Shell hit 458 billion US dollars. Remaining in the second spot was Exxon Mobil. But Wal-Mart slipped to third place, even though it was described as the "hottest stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2008".

Sinopec was the highest ranking Chinese company on the list, taking 9th place. Sinopec had nearly 208 billion US dollars in revenue last year.

(CCTV July 10, 2009)