The General Office of the Shanxi Provincial Government recently issued 20 supporting policies targeted at platform enterprises to promote the development of platform economic clusters.

According to the circular released by the government, Shanxi will establish its unicorn enterprise cultivation bank and it will select a batch of unicorn enterprises, gazelle enterprises and small businesses to join the bank. These firms will be in the early stages of growth and have good performance, development potential and nurturing value.

Unicorn and quasi-unicorn enterprises that have settled their comprehensive headquarters, regional headquarters or functional headquarters in Shanxi Transformation and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone and have investments in place will enjoy support from the zone in production, scientific research, land and housing use, investment and financing, talent introduction and application scenarios.

Shanxi will set up a special fund with a total scale of 20 billion yuan ($3.07 billion) to encourage financial institutions to provide customized and innovative financial products for unicorn enterprises.

Background Information

Platform enterprises refer to those developing and operating internet platforms. By providing platforms and platform-based services, they build a business ecosystem that includes multi-agent supply.

A unicorn enterprise is a company that has obtained an equity investment, has not been listed within 10 years of its establishment and is valued at more than $1 billion after its latest round of financing.

A gazelle enterprise is a small or medium-sized enterprise that has entered the high-growth stage based on technological innovation or business-model innovation.