China’s national high-tech industrial development zones have become major bases for startups valued at over 1 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country’s 178 national high-tech industrial development zones were home to approximately 67 percent of China’s unicorn firms by the end of 2024, the ministry told a press conference on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These zones housed about one-third of the country’s high-tech enterprises and 46 percent of its “little giant” firms, which refer to the novel elites among small and medium-sized enterprises that are engaged in manufacturing, specialize in a niche market and boast cutting-edge technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, these zones host approximately 60 percent of the country’s publicly listed artificial intelligence (AI) companies and about half of its AI unicorns, the ministry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These zones registered steady economic growth last year, with their total gross domestic product up 7.6 percent year on year in nominal terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These high-tech zones also achieved fruitful results in opening-up and international cooperation, with total import and export volumes of goods and services hitting 9.5 trillion yuan, representing a 2.5 percent year-on-year growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To boost their technological and industrial innovation, the government will combine zone development with strategic national sci-tech resources, and step up its cultivation of gazelle and unicorn companies, according to ministry official Wu Jiaxi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n