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reporter fromthe 2024 pujiang innovation forum - unicorn innovation development forum held on the 8th learned that the number of unicorn companies in my country has increased from 131 in 2016 to 375 in 2023, nearly doubling in eight years. among them, the number of new unicorn companies is generally on the rise, and the total number of super unicorn companies remains at around 10 per year. from 2016 to 2023, the total valuation of my country's unicorn companies has continued to rise from nearly us$500 billion to over us$1.2 trillion.

the "china unicorn enterprise development tracking report" released at the forum shows that from 2016 to 2023, the number of unicorn enterprise tracks in my country increased from 22 to 39, and unicorn enterprises gradually shifted from model innovation to technological innovation. since 2020, integrated circuits have become the track with the largest number of unicorn enterprises for three consecutive years. the artificial intelligence track continues to produce unicorn enterprises in new sub-sectors such as ai intelligent solutions, machine vision, brain-like technology, and generative ai.

the report also shows that the proportion of cutting-edge technology unicorns continues to increase, from 35 in 2016 to 249 in 2023. the proportion has exceeded 60% for the first time since 2021, reaching 66.4% in 2023. the total number of patents of unicorn companies continues to grow, from nearly 9,000 in 2018 to nearly 50,000 in 2023. unicorn companies continue to apply for pct international invention patents. in 2023, a total of 94 unicorn companies applied for 1,157 international pct invention patents, and their ability to participate in international scientific and technological competition has been significantly enhanced.

the report shows that from 2016 to 2023, a total of 22 provinces have seen the emergence of unicorn companies, with beijing, shanghai and guangdong continuing to lead in the number of unicorn companies. unicorn companies are characterized by "high concentration and wide distribution", and the number of cities where they are distributed has further expanded. from 2016 to 2023, the number of cities where unicorn companies are distributed increased from 16 to 56. beijing, shanghai, shenzhen, guangzhou and hangzhou are the main gathering places for unicorn companies, but the degree of concentration is declining. the number of unicorns in the yangtze river delta region has increased significantly, and by 2023, the yangtze river delta will gather more than 40% of the country's unicorn companies.

source: people's daily client