Half of China's ten biggest unicorns, or start-ups valued at US$1 billion or above, are financial technology firms. Alibaba-affliated Ant Financial is the biggest unicorn in the country, worth a whopping US$60 billion, followed by peer Lufax at US$18.5 billion, according to a new report by iResearch.
JD Capital-backed P2P (peer-to-peer) lending platform Jiedaibao, China's first online insurer Zhong An Insurance and JD.com Inc.-backed JD Finance are ranked eight to tenth on the top-ten list.
Xiaomi Inc, Didi Chuxing, Meituan-Dianping, DJI and Alibaba-founded Cainiao took up the remaining spots on the ranking.
Across China, there are currently 79 unicorns in total, with 31 new additions this year.
If lowering the bar to a single company valuation of US$160 million or more, around 300 companies with aggregate valuation of US$423 billion made into iResearch's ranking of unicorns and quasi-unicorns this year, indicating an average valuation of US$1.4 billion per company, up 37.8% year-on-year.
Internet Finance firms took the largest share of the ranking, with 44 companies on the list, indicating strong growth potential in the sector.
E-commerce is the second most active industry, with 36 firms included on the ranking, followed by auto and transportation sectors.
Beijing-based companies amount to 179, or 59.7%, of the list, highlighting the capital's ability to attract entrepreneurs and talents.
There are 46 Shanghai-based companies, and 33 Guangdong province-based firms, according to the report.