Tencent's logo File photo: IC

China led the growth of value gains among the world's 500 most valuable private companies in 2020, with a year-on-year growth rate of 73 percent. A total of 51 Chinese firms are on the top 500 list for last year, with a combined value of $5.2 trillion, or the equivalent of the world's third-largest economy Japan, according to a report that the Hurun Report sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

Among the Chinese companies on the list, Tencent led with a market capitalization of $715 billion, followed by Alibaba, $712 billion, the report - "2020 Hurun Global 500" - showed. It was jointly released by Hurun and China tea brand Empereur.

The two Chinese technology enterprises were also in the top 10, the first time that two Chinese companies simultaneously held spots in the global top 10 as China's technology competitiveness rose. 

The remaining eight companies in the top 10 were all from the US. Five year ago, no Chinese firms were in the top 10, the report noted. 

In terms of the total number, the US led with 242 companies, followed by China (51), Japan (30), and France and the UK (21 each). India was No.10 with 11 firms. 

Other Chinese companies on the list include Taiwan-based chipmaker TSMC, insurer Pingan, online service provider Meituan Dianping, Alibaba's financial arm Ant Group, e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, telecom equipment maker Huawei, e-commerce platform JD Group and insurance firm AIA Group.   

Apple was the world's most valuable company in 2020, with a value of $2.1 trillion, followed by Microsoft and Amazon with $1.6 trillion each. US companies' value increased by 27 percent year-on-year, compared with the 73-percent growth rate of Chinese companies.

In terms of growth, the Hurun Global 500 was led by Chinese electric car start-up Nio, up 22 times to $61 billion, followed by another China-based electric-car producer Xpeng Motors and China-based online real estate platform KE.

The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled a technology boom across the world, with electric cars, healthcare and e-commerce posting the fastest growth, Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, was quoted as saying in the report. 

The Global 500 list is based on companies' value as of December 1, defined as market capitalization for listed companies and valuations for unlisted companies.