China surpasses US in unicorn businesses

China surpassed the United States in terms of growth of total number of unicorn companies in the first half of this year, said a Forbes executive on Friday.

Graham Earnshaw, chief strategy officer of Forbes China, said that, after enduring the challenges posed by the pandemic for the past three years, the growth rate of unicorn companies in China has demonstrated even stronger resilience than pre-pandemic levels, once again surpassing the US in the first half of this year.

He said a major driving force behind the rapid incubation of these unicorn companies has been the industrial capitals.

The remarks were made during a forum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, held by the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

According to Forbes, the US holds the largest number of unicorn companies, currently totaling 768. China follows closely behind with 394 unicorn companies, while Europe and India have 269 and 87, respectively. In the first half of this year, China and the US accounted for 90 percent of the total global increase in the numbers of unicorn companies.