Beijing - The 2026 China Unicorn Companies Development Report was launched in Beijing on Sunday, underscoring China's position as a major hub for high-growth enterprises. The report said China is home to 416 unicorn companies, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the global total and placing the country second in the world by scale, according to the Beijing Evening News on Tuesday.

The United States, with a 49.8 percent share, continues to top the list, the newspaper reported.

The average valuation of Chinese unicorn companies reached 3.869 billion U.S. dollars, with both the number of unicorns and their valuations hitting three-year highs.

Hard technologies, with artificial intelligence (AI) at the forefront, have taken center stage among unicorn companies, Xuan Hong, head of the Zhongguancun Unicorn Company Development Alliance was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

In 2025, the AI sector secured the top position across all tracks with 69 companies and a combined valuation of 638 billion U.S. dollars. At present, over three-quarters of the unicorn companies belong to the hard technology domain, accounting for nearly 80 percent of total valuations, said Xuan.

Geographically, the unicorn companies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region recorded a total valuation exceeding 760 billion U.S. dollars, driven by advances in AI.

The Yangtze River Delta leads the country in the number of unicorn companies, with 163, and serves as a major hub for integrated circuit enterprises. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, home to 69 unicorn companies, is distinguished by its strong performance in the new consumption and retail sectors.

Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen accounted for nearly 70 percent of the total valuation of the nation's unicorn companies. Among them, Beijing attracted 116 unicorns, ranking first nationwide in both the number of companies and total valuation, including 40 in the AI sector alone.

The report also showed that hard-tech unicorn companies filed an average of 364 patent applications, 2.2 times that of non-hard-tech sectors.