ByteDance. Photo: VCG

By the end of March China had the world's second-highest number of unicorns, private companies whose valuations exceed $1 billion, according to the Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2020 list released by the Hurun Research Institute on Tuesday. 

Among the world's 10 highest-valued unicorns, six are Chinese companies. Alibaba's financial arm Ant Group is the world's largest unicorn with a valuation of $150 billion. ByteDance, which has recently been facing a crackdown from the Trump administration, is the second highest with a valuation of $80 billion, the list showed. 

Chinese tech firms Didi Chuxing and Kuaishou were also among the top 10. 

In total, there are 586 unicorn companies in the world, up 82 from the same time last year. 233 are US companies, making it the country with the most unicorns. China is in second with 227, followed by the UK and India. 

Unicorns in China and the US collectively account for about 80 percent of the world's total.

The list also showed that Beijing is the "capital" of global unicorns, being home to 93, largely outnumbering San Francisco's 68. 

US-based Sequoia Capital is the world's most successful unicorn investment institution, and has invested in almost a fifth of the world's unicorn companies, according to Hurun.