TOKYO -- China and the U.S. dominated the ranks of the world's most profitable companies for fiscal 2017, with four Chinese banks placing in the top 10 along with an equal number of American businesses, led by information technology providers.
China's big four banks each increased net profit despite problems such as the industry's pile of bad debt. They benefited from Beijing's aggressive economic policies before the twice-a-decade Communist Party congress last fall, but the government now appears eager to curb financial risk through tighter regulations.
