Guangzhou, Guangdong province, added nine new global unicorns in the first half of 2022, taking its total to 19, according to an industrial report released on Tuesday.

The Global Unicorn Index 2022 Half-Year Report, released by the Hurun Research Institute, indicated that Guangzhou had become the fastest-growing Chinese city as measured by new unicorns in the past six months.

The city's Huangpu district and high-tech zone, as the major force driving technological innovation and development, has become a major base for growth of global unicorns, the report added.

"These unicorns are leading a new generation of disruptive technology. With fintech, e-commerce, business management solutions, health tech and AI, industries are now attracting the world's top young talent and smart capital," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report.

Hurun has been tracking global unicorns since 2017. The index ranking the world's startups was introduced in the 2000s. It is worth at least $1 billion but not yet listed on a public exchange.

The world's unicorns came from 48 countries and regions, with the United States leading with 625 companies, followed by China with 312 in the first half of this year, the report said.

Beijing-based Douyin, with 1.2 billion monthly active users for its flagship TikTok, is the world's most valuable unicorn for the second year running.

The half-year index was released on the occasion of the Global Unicorn CEO Conference, which was also held in Guangzhou on Tuesday. It invited the world's unicorns, investors and advisers to discuss innovation and entrepreneurship, new technologies and business models.

"Unicorns are a benchmark of a world-class startup ecosystem. The more unicorns a country has, the better the startup ecosystem," Hoogewerf said.

There has been a massive surge in unicorns since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 369 new unicorns being found in the first six months of 2022 — or two a day — according to Hoogewerf.

"The 1,200 new unicorns minted in the last two years are disrupting financial services, business management solutions, healthcare and retail," he said.