THE number of fintech unicorns in the city makes Shenzhen No. 2 in the list of major Chinese cities, following Beijing, according to a research report released by Bay Area International Fintech Lab, an independent think tank under Shenzhen Fintech Association.

The report was based on current lab data and research on historic ranking records made by organizations including KPMG, Zhongguancun and Tsinghua University, according to www.oeeee.com. A total of 27 fintech unicorns were selected for the analysis.

The 27 enterprises mainly operate in cities featuring high-tech businesses like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Changsha and Guangzhou.

The number of fintech unicorns headquartered in Beijing is nine, earning the top rank. Shenzhen has six fintech unicorns and is followed by Shanghai and Hangzhou, the report showed.

Of the 27 enterprises, 19 enterprises apply AI and big data technologies.

Four of them were evaluated at US$10 billion, 10 were priced between US$1 billion and US$10 billion while the remaining 13 were evaluated below US$1 billion.

Established in November 2019, the lab has a pool of 70 experts and scholars and has released reports and made proposals on fintech development in the challenging period of COVID-19.

It has also participated in policymaking relating to the fintech industry in several cities, has given guidance for resuming work and has also posted retainment and employment for fintech enterprises.

(Han Ximin)