A concept picture of chip Photo: VCG

The number of promising "gazelle enterprises" in China reached 278 in 2025, up 8 percent year-on-year. And the country ranks the second in terms of the number of gazelles last year, trailing the US, according to a report the Hurun Research Institute sent to the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Gazelles refer to start-ups founded in the 2000s, not yet listed on a public exchange and most likely to "go unicorn" and hit a market capitalization of $1 billion within three years.

Since 2019, China has seen the number of Hurun gazelles almost quadruple from 70 to 278, along with 55 new entries last year, the report said. China's Hurun gazelles are primarily concentrated in the biotechnology and semiconductor sectors.

In terms of the geographic distribution of the gazelles, the Yangtze River Delta region has 134 gazelle enterprises in total, an increase of 30 from 2024. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has 64, up by 13, while the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has 52, up by 3.

The US ranks No.1 globally with 302 gazelles last year, but the number of enterprises was down 8 percent compared with 2024. The combined number of US and Chinese gazelles account for 71 percent of the global total. The UK, India and Germany were the No 3 to No 5 followers.

The Hurun Research found 819 gazelles worldwide in 2025, up 19 percent from 688 in 2023. This is the fifth year Hurun Research has launched the Hurun Gazelles Index on a global level.

In terms of industries, biotech led the way with 119 Hurun gazelles, followed by fin-tech with 87 enterprises, software as a service (SAAS) with 77, artificial intelligence (AI) with 71, and healthcare with 65.

"Hurun gazelles are very young, averaging nine years old, but are already worth an average of US$700 million. AI is having the biggest impact, with 35 now driven by AI, whilst FinTech and SaaS continue to grow as founders find ways to lower their costs. The convergence of generative AI, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, cloud computing, IoT, and automation is creating unprecedented opportunities for innovative start-ups to lead the charge in this exciting new age," Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf was quoted as saying.

Global Times