Only one Asian nation is included in the FT500's top 10 country list: Japan.

But these days the stock market rating attached to the world's second biggest economy is looking seriously deflated in comparison with the puffed-up days of the 1980s bubble economy.

Excluding Japan, Asian enterprises account for just 25 of the world's 500 most valuable companies - a poor showing given the region's growing economic weight. Many Asian economies are still recovering from the financial crisis of 1997-98. But the model of economic development in the region has also ensured that fewer public companies have emerged. Diverse, and often family-owned, Asian conglomerates have preferred to use retained earnings and bank debt to fund expansion and have invariably steered clear of the public markets.

Michael Carr, head of Asian investment banking operations for Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, pulls out a chart highlighting stock market capitalisations as a percentage of GDP around the world. Whereas the ratio is about 170 per cent in the US and 100 per cent in Europe, it languishes at only 50 per cent across Asia.

He predicts that the situation will change drastically over the coming decade as Asian companies learn to appreciate the virtues of US-style capital markets. That should be good news for investment bankers, fund managers and Asian readers of the FT500 survey.

"Asia's markets would have to double in size to get to where Europe is today. That is Asia's appeal over time," he says.

Asian companies and banks are already beginning to raise additional capital through the public markets to repair their balance sheets, which were devastated following the regional financial crisis. But at this stage of the cycle they are looking to raise capital mainly through corporate bond - rather than equity - issuance. Governments are also tipping more state-owned companies into the private sector to raise additional funds, stimulate local stock markets and spur restructuring efforts.

The prime example of the trend is China, which was the undoubted star of the Asian investment universe last year. China's economy grew by 8 per cent last year, its domestic stock markets surged, and four giant Chinese corporations raised more than $20bn abroad from initial public offerings.

Many of the biggest companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange are now the local offshoots of mainland companies. More, including the Bank of China's Hong Kong operations and China's fixed-line telecommunications company, are due to be listed later this year.

With a market capitalisation of just over $100bn, China Mobile is now the most valuable company in Asia, excluding Japan. It has been busy adding new subscribers at a rate of more than 1m a month and recorded net profits of $2.2bn last year.

China's other mobile telephone operator China Unicom has also entered the list of Asia's biggest 100 companies at number 14. PetroChina, the mainland oil company which has just announced net profits of $6.7bn for last year, popped up for the first time at number 96 but seems destined to climb rapidly higher.

Falls in other Asian stock markets last year ensured some dramatic reversals in fortunes for individual stocks. Several Taiwanese computer companies, heavily exposed to the slowdown in US IT spending, slid heavily down the rankings. Pohang Iron & Steel (Posco), South Korea's giant steel maker, also declined from 28 to 45 on the list of Asia's top 100 companies.

The survey also illustrates the relatively small size of India's corporate sector in spite of the dynamism of its computer industry. Only one Indian company, the software group Wipro, appeared on the FT500 list of most valuable companies.

The survey also confirms how far Asia's centre of economic gravity has shifted northwards. Apart from three Singaporean companies - Singapore Telecom, DBS Group and Singapore Airlines - no companies from south-east Asia made it on to the FT500 list.