More than one-third of the world's unicorns come from China, a new report reveals. Being the second largest economy in the world, China is now closing into beating the US with the most number of unicorns.
A report by Consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tomatsu Limited and trade group China Venture Capital Association has revealed that China accounts for 38.9 per cent or 98 of the world's unicorns. The US, on the other hand, accounts for 42.1 per cent or 106 unicorns. India places third with 10 unicorns.
Also read: PayPal braves China's online payment market amid Alipay, WeChat domination
Unicorns are companies that private investors and venture capitalists value at least US$1bn. In 2017, a total of 252 unicorns have already been recorded which are cumulatively valued at US$879.5bn.
The finance industry mostly makes up China's US$1bn-worth companies, including Ant Financial Services Group and JD Finance. Other unicorns in the country are Xiaomi Inc, Did Chuxing and Dà-Jiāng Innovations (DJI) Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
Deloitte China's senior manager Zhong Yuntai states in the report that fintech will continue to grow in the country.
"China's internet giants are aggressively developing online payment service and e-commerce business, and at the same time, the traditional finance institutions are also actively embracing technologies and seeking cooperations with tech companies."
Deloitte has predicted that upcoming unicorns will come from the artificial intelligence and transportation sectors.
