China has 136 firms listed in The Forbes Global 2000 this year, 15 more than last year, as the nation gained more ground amid the world's biggest and most powerful public companies.

The Forbes Global 2000 by Forbes magazine, an annual list of the top 2000 public companies worldwide since 2003, ranks firms according to their composite scores based on sales, profits, assets and market value.

The 136 Chinese companies, led by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) that ranks 5 on the list, are worth $2.8 trillion in aggregate market value.

As for other Chinese companies among the world's top 20, Petro China came in as the 7th most powerful, followed by the China Construction Bank at 13 and the Agricultural Bank of China at 19.

China is the third largest country in terms of membership, after the US (524 firms) and Japan (258 firms). The Asia-Pacific region has produced 733 names on the list, running far ahead for the fifth year of other regions - Europe, the Middle East and Africa-EMEA.

The top three seats on The Global 2000 are taken by Exxon Mobile, JPMorgan Chase, and General Electric.