The number of Global 500 companies' headquarters in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area surpassed the New York Bay Area for the first time, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Monday.

With four new companies' joining in, China's Greater Bay Area became host to 25 Global 500 companies this year, outweighing the New York Bay Area with 24 Global 500 companies' headquarters.

Covering an area of 13,600 square kilometers, the Tokyo Bay Area has 40 Global 500 headquarters, the most among the four global bay areas in the world.

The number of Global 500 companies was 10 in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Apple and Alphabet as leading companies.

Statistics show 99 Global 500 headquarters are in the four global bay areas of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, driving forces of the global economy.

China's Greater Bay Area covers the largest area of 56,000 square kilometers among the four global bay areas, followed by the New York Bay Area and San Francisco Bay Area with of 21,500 and 18,000 square kilometers, respectively.

Finance, innovative technology and manufacturing are pillar industries in China's Greater Bay Area while automobile, petrochemical engineering and finance are those in the Tokyo Bay Area.

Technological innovation and professional services are the most important industries in the San Francisco Bay Area and finance, real estate and medical healthcare are major industries in the New York Bay Area.

Data from the World Bank shows 60 percent of the world's major cities are in bay areas and the economy of these areas accounts for over 75 percent of the total global economy.

About one-fifth of the Global 500 gather in the four global bay areas, the industry distribution of which indicates the global economic development trend.