Alibaba Group has cracked Fortune Magazine’s annual list of World’s Most Admired Companiesfor the first time ever. The Chinese technology giant notched fourth place in the “Internet Services and Retailing” category, just behind Alphabet, Amazon.com and Facebook.

The 330-company list – a compilation of the “most-respected companies in business” – surveysexecutives and directors from top companies across the globe. FORTUNE Magazine, collaborating with executive search firm Korn Ferry, explains how they calculated the results:

“We began with a universe of about 1,500 candidates: the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue, along with non-U.S. companies inFORTUNE’sGlobal 500 database that have revenues of $10billion or more. We then winnowed the assortment to the highest-revenue companies in each industry, a total of 680 in 29 countries. The top-rated companies were picked from that pool of 680; the executives who voted work at the companies in that group.

To determine the best-regarded companies in 52 industries, Korn Ferry asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate enterprises in their own industry on nine criteria, from investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent. A company’s score must rank in the top half of its industry survey to be listed.”

The nine attributes executives voted on included innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment, quality of products/services, and global competitiveness.

Alibaba Group was also on FORTUNE’s Global 500 list last year, published in July 2017.