A seminar on "New Economy, New Species and Nezha Business" was organized recently by Great-wall Enterprise Institute (GEI).

Wang Delu, director of GEI, remarked that data is becoming one of the most important production factors in the new economic era. Companies of new types are using new technologies to render ubiquitous data a new element of productivity, thereby achieving explosive growth with marginal costs.

The two concepts of "Unicorn Enterprise" and "Gazelle Enterprise" were introduced from Silicon Valley in the United States, and the concept of "Nezha Business" was first proposed in China by GEI.

Similar to the evolutionary process of species in the natural ecosystem, the birth of a new type of enterprise under the new economic environment requires three key links, including "gene mutation" (breakthrough and crossover of hard technologies), "natural selection" (innovation competition in the highlands leading to a change in evolution direction) and "isolation" (a new economic system, and track and scenario innovation), Wang noted.

Take Nezha Business for instance. Nezha Business refers to an innovative and entrepreneurial enterprise that has been established for no more than three years and has received over 100 million yuan ($15.11 million) in financing before or in the A round. 

"It resembles Nezha, a protection deity in Chinese folk religion, who can run and fight as soon as he is born," said Ma Yuwen, a partner of GEI. 

Ma then introduced that a Nezha enterprise has the characteristics of a short establishment time, high starting point, a new track field and strong scenario innovation; its innovative model and innovative technology are more future-oriented, and its strong competitiveness will enable it to become cultivate world-class Chinese enterprise.

With the development of the internet and information technologies, the emergence of new species of companies such as unicorns, potential unicorns, gazelles, and Nezha enterprises has become a remarkable phenomenon of the new economy. The investment community, the media, and researchers have also paid great attention to them.

Since 2015, GEI has conducted research on these "new species", and released a "Development Report on Gazelle Enterprises in the National High-tech Zone", a "Development Report on Unicorn Enterprises in China", a "Research Report on Potential Unicorn Enterprises in China", a "Research Report on Nezha Businesses in China" and similar materials.

Statistics show that in 2019 the number of unicorn companies in China reached 218, with a further 296 potential unicorn companies and 163 Nezha companies. The national high-tech zones alone are home to nearly 3,000 gazelle enterprises.