The Startup Ecosystem of China

China has 43 cities in the top 1000 and has a vibrant startup scene that ranks 12th within the competitive global top 20.

COUNTRY RANKING

Since 2023, China lost 2 spots in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index, having now positioned itself as 12th worldwide.

Population

1412.3
Million

Regional Ranking

1st
0
In East Asia

Global Ranking

12th
-
2
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai during daytime
The transition China has made from a low-tech developing country to a cutting-edge technological power is inspiring. The nation prioritizes technology development as a strategic goal, and the government channels massive investments into becoming a world leader with state of the art tech hubs. China’s most prominent unicorns are focused on automation and AI, along with a strong Hardware & IoT presence in the impressive Shenzhen startup ecosystem.


However, China has made a clear decision not to open its ecosystems globally. The majority of China’s startups are focused only on China’s economy, and therefore have a limited footprint. Chinese tech users are also isolated from the global Internet by the great firewall which regulates online traffic in China. Given the sheer size of the country’s economy, Chinese ecosystems were still able to achieve impressive growth and create an extraordinary number of startups and unicorns. Much of the growth potential of Chinese ecosystems has been realized, and the current inward trend limits the ability of China’s startup ecosystem to pursue other tech markets and achieve global leadership status.

Another critical challenge for China is managing friction between its successful founders and the state. Unlike in the West, where tech leaders have a free hand in achieving celebrity status and working on projects like sending spaceships to other planets, becoming a Chinese entrepreneur can come with restrictions and risks. The implications of recent friction between the Chinese government and its most notable entrepreneurs, exemplified in the ANT Group’s failed IPO and Didi’s crackdown will leave a lasting mark on the ecosystem, regardless of current positive efforts from the government to backtrack and fix them.

Multiple Chinese corporations are successful players in the global consumer market, with Alibaba, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Tencent leading the way. TikTok, a popular B2C application, has also taken the world by storm, although restrictions imposed on some of these tech giants by Western economies have put pressure on them and limited their growth.

It’s understandable why Chinese entrepreneurs choose to focus locally, considering the massive size of the national market and the geopolitical difficulties in expanding globally. However, in order to truly fulfill its startup ecosystem potential, China needs to aim internationally in the medium to long term.

Startups

China Top Startup Industries

Edtech icon
Edtech
#4 worldwide

1661 startups

Transportation icon
Transportation
#4 worldwide

577 startups

Ecommerce & Retail icon
Ecommerce & Retail
#7 worldwide

548 startups

Ecosystem HealthCheck

China Ecosystem Health Check

The health check tables allow you to look at the performance China has in each of the parameters that are part of StartupBlink's ranking algorithm. There are five tables, corresponding to the three subscores, the subscore analysis and industry ana...

  • Overperformance
  • Performance equal to global ranking
  • Underperformance
ParameterParameter Global rankParameter rank change since 2022ResultContribution to total scoreRank gain / loss due to parameter
Total Score12-220.491100%0
Quantity Score32-31.7658.61%-4
Sample size of startups3049366.41%-3
Sample size of accelerators2114390.15%0
Sample size of coworking spaces717791.82%-3
Community Score107N/A0.0070.03%0

ECOSYSTEM

Browse the startup ecosystem database of China

Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in China

Our startup ecosystem map for China includes a sample of 5143 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 173 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations. Contributing to the vitality of this startup ecosystem are the 20 pantheon member entities.

Global Rank

China is ranked within the top 20 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

China’s startup scene is best represented in Edtech, Transportation, and in Ecommerce & and Retail.

Top Cities for Startups in China - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2023 National Rank & Change ▲
2023 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal Score
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
Quantity Score
Quality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
6th
0
99.019
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
0
7th
0
67.567
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
0
16th
+
2
35.292
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
0
35th
-
5
21.057
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
0
36th
0
20.184
00.00
00.00
00.00
6th
0
45th
+
6
14.297
00.00
00.00
00.00
7th
+
3
69th
+
88
8.986
00.00
00.00
00.00
8th
-
1
97th
-
19
7.257
00.00
00.00
00.00
9th
0
123rd
+
4
5.702
00.00
00.00
00.00
10th
-
2
125th
-
11
5.629
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in China
Matchall startup icon
Matchall
Homelink startup icon
Homelink
Dianping startup icon
Dianping

Startups

Successful Edtech startups in China
Jiliguala startup icon
Jiliguala
italki startup icon
italki
PalFish startup icon
PalFish

Featured Startup Ecosystems

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