Beijing Tops Nationwide for Its Future Unicorns

On January 15, 2026, CYZone, an international innovation think tank and tech service platform, unveiled its annual "China's Top 100 Future Unicorns" list. Of the 100 companies on the list, 38 are based in Beijing, making the city lead all other cities in China.

It is learned that CYZone's "China's Top 100 Future Unicorns" lists have been published for 16 years, annually featuring 100 high-potential tech companies with valuations ranging from 100 million US dollars to 1 billion US dollars. To date, 1,395 firms have been included on the lists, among which 136 have successfully gone public, 191 have become unicorns, and 944 have secured additional funding after their inclusion.

The latest list underscores that innovation resources have been concentrated in China's core cities. Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen firmly hold the top three positions. Beijing leads the country with 38 entries, 14 of which are based in Haidian District.

The 2025 Global Unicorn Enterprises Observation Report, also released on the same day, shows that the world saw 120 new unicorns in 2025, including 73 in the United States and 22 in China. By the end of 2025, the global count of existing unicorns stood at 1,949. Artificial intelligence continues to lead the growth of new unicorns, with over 40 percent of 2025's new unicorns being AI-related companies.

(Source: Beijing Daily)