Japan Has No Companies in Asia's Top 50 List

The Forbes list of Asia’s top 50 publicly traded firms for 2011 included no Japanese companies — a first since the list was launched in 2005. Last year the list had included 2 Japanese firms.

China topped this year’s “Fab 50” list with 23 companies, up from 16 last year. South Korea followed with eight companies and India with seven.

“The trend of Chinese corporate dominance underscores the view that the story of Asia is increasingly the story of China,” according to the Forbes article. “No country has ever boasted close to that number, including China”.

The top firms in terms of market valuation were India’s Tata Consultancy and China’s Tencent Holdings, both at $44.3 billion. Other top Chinese firms include China Merchants Bank, construction giant Anhui Conch Cement and retailer Belle International Holdings.

Other top Indian firms include tech giant Bharti Airtel, agricultural giant ITC and consumer durables maker Mahindra & Mahindra.

Top S. Korean firms include consumer durables maker Hyundai Mobis, internet giant NHN and construction giant Samsung Engineering.

When the list was inaugurated in 2005 Japan had topped the list with 13 companies, including Toyota and Nissan. Last year Nintendo and Rakuten were the only Japanese firms. Forbes attributed Japan’s fall from the list partly to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The Forbes list was compiled from among over 1,000 companies in the Asia-Pacific region with at least $3 billion in revenue or market capital. The 50 that made the list were selected based on financial performance over the last five years. Firms that are majority government owned or had excessive debt were excluded.