SHANGHAITencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding were far and away the most valuable companies in Asia at the end of 2017. Reflecting the healthy growth of China's internet economy, the market value of both these companies more than doubled, vastly outpacing the average growth of 28% for Asian companies as a whole.
The region's market cap stood at $25.74 trillion at the close of last year, accounting for 31.8% of global total. Although the share is down from the 2015 peak of 32.2%, it recovered 1 percentage point from 2016. Asia now has 4,085 businesses worth at least $1 billion, making up 46.5% of the world's total.
