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China's share of world's biggest companies to double

How much wealth is being generated in China? Perhaps more importantly, how long will this wave of growth continue?

These are key questions for real estate agents and property developers, and the answers will tell you a lot about the Chinese buyers who are snapping up houses and apartments in your local market.

Do they represent a temporary trend or will this phenomenon become an enduring reality instead?

New research from McKinsey & Company's McKinsey Global Institute reveals some stunning statistics about the rise of China. The low down is this: China is big today, and it's only going to get bigger.

Just 20 years ago, there was only one¹ single company big enough to have clawed its way into the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's most valuable public companies.

As of 2013, there are at least 89.²

In 15 years, there will be 120.¹

By then, the developed Western world will go from being home to 95% of the world's largest companies – as it was in 1990 – to only about half (54%) in the new reality. The rest will be in China and other so-called developing countries.

This won't necessarily be bad for countries like Australia, UK, US and others that have historically been the biggest economic players. The evolution doesn't mean that these countries will have less growth or lower income.

Instead, the world's economic pie will get bigger – with everyone getting a bigger slice.

China's economic rise is just beginning, and the influx of Chinese buyers into Western real estate is still an early-stage trend. As China becomes wealthier and more integrated into the world, they will spend an increasing amount on international property.

Sources: 1. McKinsey & Co., "Urban world: The shifting global business landscape"; 2. Fortune Global 500 (2013)