GUANGZHOU, June 26 (Xinhua) -- China's tally of unicorn companies stood at 381 as of Jan. 1 this year, according to the Global Unicorn Index 2026 by Hurun Research Institute.
The number was 38 more than the previous year, according to the index, released on Thursday in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province.
According to the index, the number of unicorn companies worldwide hit a record high of 1,603, up 5.3 percent from the previous year's tally, with a combined valuation of 54 trillion yuan (about 7.92 trillion U.S. dollars).
The United States led the world with 806 unicorns, an increase of 48 from a year earlier, accounting for 50.3 percent of the global total. China ranked second globally with 381 unicorn companies, and its unicorn companies are primarily concentrated in the semiconductor, artificial intelligence (AI), life sciences and new energy sectors.
Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, said that the industry focus of global unicorn companies has shifted over the past eight years from e-commerce to fintech, and now to AI. Over the past year, the number of unicorns in the AI sector grew far faster than in any other industry, with the total number of AI unicorns now nearly tied with fintech for the top spot, while their combined valuation has reached three times that of fintech.
In the fields of semiconductors, new energy, robotics and low-altitude economy, China outperformed the rest of the world, added Hoogewerf, also known by his Chinese name, Hu Run.
The Global Unicorn Index 2026 is a ranking of the world's start-ups founded after 2000 that are worth at least 1 billion U.S. dollars and not yet listed on a public exchange. Hurun Research Institute began tracking unicorn companies in 2017, and this marks the eighth edition of the Global Unicorn Index. ■
