Qingdao embraces first unicorn company

The coastal city of Qingdao in East China's Qingdao released its first unicorn company at a press conference on Sept 11.

A unicorn company is a startup with a market value surpassing $1 billion. Genova Biotech Co, with $2.6 billion market value, is a high-tech biopharmaceutical multinationals.

It focuses on the research, development, production and marketing of new biological drugs for the treatment of major human diseases. It has also become China's first unicorn company in the field of bio-pharmaceuticals.

The conference also announced 31 gazelle companies in Qingdao. A gazelle company describes a typically small publicly traded company having an annual growth rate of 20 percent or more in sales revenue from startup.

Qingdao is home to these high-quality companies for its continuous optimization in the regional business environment to attract more investment.

The city is catching up fast in technological innovation to develop new-generation information technology including integrated circuits, big data, Internet of Things, cloud computing, and block chains.

Qingdao is pledged to roll out a series of policies to support high-quality development of local companies and by 2020, it aims to cultivate 5 unicorn companies and 100 gazelle companies.