The 2025 Top 500 Unicorn Enterprise Conference held in Laoshan district, Qingdao, on Dec 3, revealed that Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Suzhou, and Qingdao rank among China's top seven cities for unicorn enterprises.

To date, Qingdao has cultivated a total of 19 unicorn enterprises, including newly added members Qingyuan Crop Science and Haier New Energy. These companies span four core sectors: industrial internet, new energy, artificial intelligence, and life sciences, collectively maintaining Qingdao's position as the second-leading city for unicorns in North China.

Overall, Qingdao's unicorn enterprises are distinctly characterized by their close alignment with the local industrial base. They deeply integrate with the city's innovation-driven industrial system, highlighting a development model focused on the practical application of cutting-edge technologies.

Furthermore, most of Qingdao's unicorns have emerged from a unique "platform incubation" model, nurtured by major local corporations. Examples include Haier Group-spawned companies like COSMOPlat, Ririshun, Shaohaihui, and Haier New Energy, alongside Hisense's internet technology firm Juhaokan and TGood's subsidiary Teld.

Recognizing that unicorns are not built overnight, Qingdao has established a tiered enterprise cultivation system, which is a key pathway for driving industrial upgrading and enhancing urban competitiveness. Since 2019, Qingdao has hosted this annual Top 500 Unicorn Enterprise Conference for seven consecutive years, pioneering a regularized mechanism for fostering a unicorn ecosystem in China.

Supporting this effort, the recently issued three-year action plan (2025-27) for promoting the development of gazelle and unicorn enterprises sets ambitious targets: by 2027, to cultivate over 500 gazelles and at least 20 unicorns. The plan aims to develop internationally competitive innovative leaders and position Qingdao as a national frontrunner in this field.