This article attempts to assess languages used on 100 offi cial webpages randomly sampled from the 2013 list of Fortune 500 Companies and focuses on Chinese language use on these webpages that specially target at Chinese readers. The main purpose is to find out the status and functions of the Chinese language in multinational company’s business activities and to explore the factors accounting for Chinese language status in international business communication. The initial fi ndings show that the Chinese language not only lags far behind English in term of communicative importance, but also falls behind French, Spanish and German. The fi ndings signify that Chinese has limited use in these global corporations, which is a stark contrast to China’s status as the world second largest economy. On the other hand, the fact that the Chinese language is closely following the other three international languages is also encouraging for China’s Chinese language promotion. This study may informs China’s language policy makers and professionals in their endeavours in upgrading the status of the Chinese language in the arena of international business.