A total of 49 Chinese unicorn companies entered the list of the world's most valuable private enterprises valued at $1 billion and above, released by CB Insights, a New York-based investment research firm.

In the entire world, there are 200 unicorn companies with a total cumulative valuation of $689.02 billion as of last May, according to the "unicorn leaderboard" of CB Insights.

Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing is home to 25 companies on the list, which is only second to the Silicon Valley of the United States, with total valuations of at least $159 billion, occupying 23.1 percent of the global total, according to the research firm CB Insights.

Unicorn companies primarily engage in industries such as e-commerce, hardware and financial technology, accounting for approximately 50 percent of the total number, following healthcare, big data and on-demand service.

In recent years, the pace of unicorn births has dramatically accelerated, with the passion for innovation and entrepreneurship up surging, and venture capital institutions mushrooming. This makes China and in particular Zhongguancun Science Park, an important hotbed for start-ups.

Three of the global ten most valuable private companies are based in Zhongguancun, namely taxi-hailing and car-service app Didi Chuxing, smart phone maker Xiaomi Corp, and group-buying and dining platform Meituan.

In the recent years, Zhongguancun has continued to improve its ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship. Some enterprises engaged in cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality, are widely recognized by the capital markets.

Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi launches Mi Max in Beijing on May 10, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

There will be more startups based in Zhongguancun entering the list of the unicorn leaderboard in the near future, said insiders.

Three quarters of the listed companies hail from the United States and China, while the Chinese enterprises have cumulative valuations of $230.64 billion.

The average Chinese unicorn company is valued at $4.71 billion, surpassing other countries by a massive margin, shown by the statistics.

A Chinese native is using Didi, a ride-hailing app, on his phone in Shanghai, Oct 8, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]