BEIJING, July 22 -- A total of 106 Chinese companies made this year's Fortune Global 500 list, up from 100 firms in 2014, according to the annual ranking released Wednesday.

Sinopec Group, China's top oil refiner, was the second largest company in the world this year by total revenue, up from the third place in 2014, according to the new list topped by U.S. retail giant Walmart.

PetroChina, the largest oil and gas producer in China, remained in fourth place this year, while the State Grid Corporation, the largest electric utilities company, remained seventh.

The number of Chinese companies in the list trailed only the U.S., which boasts 128 companies.

The world's 500 largest companies generated 31.2 trillion U.S. dollars in revenues and 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars in profits in 2014.