Chinese companies dominate ranking of Asian market caps

Chinese companies snagged most of the slots in a ranking of Asia's 10 biggest market capitalizations as of the end of 2012, with only three Japanese firms making the cut.

The ranking can be seen as yet another sign of the decline of corporate Japan, which held six of the 10 spots in 2003.

PetroChina Co. was Asia's biggest company by market cap as of the end of last year, valued at $264.8 billion. China Mobile Ltd. came in second at $233.1 billion, while South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. placed third at $207.7 billion.

Toyota Motor, Asia's largest firm in 2003, ranked fourth with a $146.1 billion market cap. Honda Motor came in ninth while NTT DoCoMo Inc. placed 10th.

Overall, Japanese shares have lost much of their presence. According to the World Federation of Eschanges, they made up 23% of total value in Asia at the end of November, compared with 52% at the end of 2003.

The proportion for Chinese firms, including those in Hong Kong, stood at 40%, up from 22% in 2003.

Recourse: The Nikkei Weekly