A visitor experiences virtual reality (VR) equipment with a shared bike at the booth of Chinese Internet firm Meituan during the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
BEIJING, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- China ranked the second globally with a total of 179 unicorn companies, or startups valued at more than 1 billion U.S. dollars,as of early October, according to a research report by Credit Suisse AG, Switzerland's second-largest bank.
According to the bank, there are a total of 179 unicorn companies in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, accounting for 15 percent of the global total, while the valuation of these companies stood at 690 billion U.S. dollars, 18 percent of the global total.
Chinese unicorn companies have grabbed growth opportunities despite challenges and uncertainties and developed new features in terms of structure, said the bank.
One of the new features is that the number of unicorns in the industries of artificial intelligence (AI), software and hardware and semi-conductor surged to 46, taking a share of 26 percent globally.
In the auto and mechanical field, two more unicorn companies were added in 2022, making the total number to 16, with total valuation of 50.7 billion U.S. dollars.
The fast-growing sub-sector of new energy vehicle (NEV) represents a major highlight, as the sales of NEVs rose to 3.52 million units in 2021 from only 8,100 units in 2011, an annual compounded growth rate of 83 percent.
According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), China is expected to sell 6.5 million NEVs this year, a record high.
The Credit Suisse AG added that China is expected to achieve an annual compounded growth rate of 14 percent in NEV sales from 2022 to 2030.
Besides, the bank believed there is great potential in China's healthcare and biotechnology sector, which saw 2 new unicorn companies in 2022, bringing the total number to eight.
(Edited by Li Shimeng with Xinhua Silk Road, lishimeng@xinhua.org)
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