This is a special edition of The Reader, a weekly round-up of stories you need to know from Fortune editor-in-chief Clifton Leaf.
This week, Fortune launched our 2020 Global 500 list.
In the 30 years since we launched the Fortune Global 500, our annual ranking of the world’s largest companies by revenue, two very clear themes have emerged.
The first is the sheer gravity-defying rise of China as a leader of global business. There were precisely zero Global 500 companies based in mainland China in 1990 when we began our survey. Today there are more giant for-profit enterprises there than anywhere else on earth.
The second—and equally dramatic—narrative is the steep rise of global trade in general. In the first running of the Global 500, world trade represented less than 39% of global GDP, according to the World Bank; in 2018 (the latest year available), such trade accounted for more than 59% of our planet’s economic output.
 Clifton Leaf
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 SPECIAL REPORT Why the China-U.S. rivalry is at a crucial turning point—and what it means for business
For the first time, there are more Global 500 companies based in mainland China, including Hong Kong, than in the U.S.—124 vs. 121. If you include Taiwan, the total for Greater China is 133.
The reversal of leadership reflects long-running trends. The number of U.S. companies in the ranking has been declining every year since 2002, when it was 197. The number of Chinese companies has been increasing every year since 2003, when mainland China placed 11 on the list.
BY GEOFF COLVIN
 MUST READ Will India’s Jio be the next tech giant?
Silicon Valley heavyweights like Facebook and Alphabet are betting on it to break through.
BY VIVIENNE WALT
 FOOD FOR THOUGHT America’s Black brain drain: Why African-American professionals are moving abroad—and staying there
Many advocates for “going cashless” believe that the paper dollar’s time is nearly up. But while its use has certainly declined in recent years, cash will likely never disappear as those in the cashless movement would hope.
BY BETH KOWITT
TESLA 
How substantial must Tesla’s actual sales be to meet its investors’ outsize expectations?
BY ANDREW NUSCA AND DAVID Z. MORRIS
PHARMA 
CEO Pascal Soriot helped build the best R&D shop in Big Pharma. Now the company faces its biggest challenge yet: mass-producing a coronavirus vaccine. BY JEREMY KAHN
MENSWEAR 
These brands have maintained integrity in a fashion world that's increasingly unsustainable. BY EMILIE HAWTIN
WFH 
The stiffest penalty may be lost creativity and innovation. BY GEOFF COLVIN
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