In Qingdao, Shandong Province, the 2025 Global Top 500 Unicorn Companies Conference was grandly held on December 3. The conference was hosted by the Unicorn Engineering Institute and jointly released the "2025 Global Top 500 Unicorn Companies Report" with institutions such as Renmin University of China. The unicorn companies selected in this report are based on multiple rigorous criteria, including a valuation exceeding 7 billion yuan and unique technologies and business models.

The report shows that the total valuation of global unicorn companies in 2025 reached 39.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 30.71% compared to last year. This huge valuation even exceeds the GDP of Germany, the third-largest economy in the world. The average valuation also rose from 59.883 billion yuan to 78.276 billion yuan, highlighting the importance of unicorn companies in the global economy.

Notably, only 12 unicorns went public in 2025, indicating a tough market environment. However, merger and acquisition activities saw a significant increase, rising from 1 in 2024 to 10 in 2025. In particular, major companies such as Disney and Google in North America made frequent moves, demonstrating strong market integration capabilities.

In the top 500 companies, enterprises from China and the United States dominated absolutely, accounting for 74.8% of the number of companies and 86.8% of the total valuation. The United States led the world with 224 companies and a valuation of 18.97 trillion yuan, while China followed closely with 150 companies and a valuation of 12.83 trillion yuan.

In terms of industry distribution, American unicorn companies mainly focus on high-value sectors such as artificial intelligence, information technology, and financial technology, with a total of 169 companies included, showing strong innovation capabilities. Meanwhile, Chinese companies also demonstrated remarkable performance in advanced manufacturing and automotive technology. In particular, the number of Chinese companies in advanced manufacturing exceeded six times that of the United States, and their total valuation was nearly 2 trillion yuan higher.

The city distribution of the 2025 Global Top 500 Unicorn Companies shows a clear concentration of leading cities. In the top ten cities, including San Francisco, Beijing, and New York, a total of 256 unicorn companies gathered, accounting for more than 50% in both number and valuation. This fully reflects the important role these cities play in the global innovation ecosystem.