Beijing city authorities take steps to support tech unicorns, including fast-tracking IPO approvals
- Eleven Beijing municipal agencies have joined hands to lay out what they are calling the ‘Ten Measures for Unicorns’
- A significant focus will be the facilitation of public listings by unicorns in domestic and overseas stock markets
The municipal government of Beijing has proposed a series of measures to tackle the “urgent needs” of the country’s technology unicorns, helping them to prepare for domestic and overseas public listings, as authorities switch from regulatory scrutiny to growth promotion amid a sputtering economic recovery.
Eleven Beijing municipal agencies across various functions, including the technology promotional agencies, the development and reform commission, and the finance and market regulation bureaus have joined hands to lay out what they are calling the “Ten Measures for Unicorns”.
A unicorn is the term used to describe a start-up company with a value of over US$1 billion. Notable unicorns from China currently include TikTok-owner ByteDance, fast fashion firm Shein and Hangzhou-based WeDoctor.
The wide-ranging policy package is aimed at helping unicorns with talent acquisition, marketing, innovation, fundraising and public listings, among other issues, according to a statement published on the official website of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission last Friday.
City authorities will push for cross-agency collaboration to unearth more tech unicorns, especially those operating in “core technology”, connecting them with various market and technological resources to foster innovation. Preferential policy support will include a more “tolerant and cautious” regulatory environment.
A significant focus will be the facilitation of public listings by unicorns in domestic and overseas stock markets.
