Thirteen unicorn enterprises in Qingdao made the list of Global Top 500 Unicorn Enterprises, which was released on Sept 24 during the third Global Top 500 Unicorn Enterprises Conference in Jimo district, Qingdao.

A unicorn refers to a startup valued at more than $1 billion within 10 years of its establishment.

The third Global Top 500 Unicorn Enterprises Conference is held on Sept 24 in Jimo district, Qingdao. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]

The 13 Qingdao unicorns on the list mostly started their businesses between 2015 and 2018 and have been around for an average of seven years. They have all grown into industry leaders.

Covering integrated circuits, energy technology, biomedicine, industrial internet, intelligent logistics, artificial intelligence, new materials and other fields, the 13 unicorns, with a total valuation of 23.06 billion, have contributed greatly to the development of Qingdao's "Four New Economy" (new technology, new business pattern, new development mode, and new industry), said local officials.

People visit Haier's industrial platform COSMOPlat, a unicorn company in Qingdao. The platform allows users to participate, interact and customize solutions throughout the entire process. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]

Hosted by the Qingdao Municipal Government and the Research Center of China's Private Enterprises of Renmin University, the third Global Top 500 Unicorn Enterprises Conference gathered more than 200 guests, including government officials, representatives of unicorn companies, venture capital institutions and experts and scholars to discuss the country's innovation capability and ways of accelerating the development of the digital economy.