How many total Artificial Intelligence companies are there in China?

As of January 2026, China has 1863 active Artificial Intelligence companies.

How many Artificial Intelligence companies in China are funded?

As of January 2026, 738 companies have received funding in this sector.

What is the total funding raised by Artificial Intelligence companies in China?

Artificial Intelligence companies in China have collectively raised $35.4B in funding till date.

Which is the highest funded Artificial Intelligence company in China?

As of January 2026, Megvii has raised $1.98B in funding, highest among the funded Artificial Intelligence companies in China.

How many Artificial Intelligence unicorns are there in China?

China has produced 31 unicorns in the Artificial Intelligence sector till date.

Artificial Intelligence in China - 2026 Market & Investments Trends

Q: Who are the top investors in Artificial Intelligence companies in China?

The top investors in Artificial Intelligence companies in China by number of investments are Plug and Play Tech Center and Kleiner Perkins.

The Artificial Intelligence sector in China comprises 1.98K companies, including 738 funded companies having collectively raised $35.4B in venture capital money and private equity. Out of these, 400 are Series A+ funded, and 31 have achieved unicorn status.

Artificial Intelligence sector in China has seen 12 acquisitions and 37 IPOs.

This sector includes companies whose core products or offerings are (a) built around AI, making it essential for their operation, and (b) incorporate proprietary AI or machine learning technology.

Companies included in Artificial Intelligence

Includes companies that develop core AI infrastructure, platforms for deploying and managing AI systems, and AI development tools. It also encompasses companies creating core AI-powered applications for consumers, enterprises, and a wide range of industry sectors. Companies are included only if AI is central to their products or services, rather than serving as a secondary feature

Companies excluded in Artificial Intelligence

Exclude those companies whose primary business domain or revenue generation is not fundamentally dependent on AI. It also excludes businesses where AI functions merely as one of several features or components within a broader product or service. Additionally, companies that primarily provide AI services, consulting, or AI-enabled solutions built upon third-party or non-proprietary technologies, rather than developing native AI systems in-house, are not considered AI-native.

Key Metrics

Total Companies

1.98K

Top Companies

Meitu, Megvii & more

Total Funding

Funded Companies

Series A+ Companies

Series C+ Companies

Unicorns Created

IPOs

Acquisitions

View complete details of this sector

There are more than 1.98K companies in Artificial Intelligence in China. Meitu is the top Artificial Intelligence company in China, ranked using Tracxn Score (what's this?).

Here are 5 of the top Artificial Intelligence companies in China:

Company	Description	Location	Founded	Current Stage	Private Funding Raised
Meitu	Photo editing and sharing app	Xiamen (China)	2008	Public	$525M
Megvii	Developer of AIoT solutions, including software, hardware, and platform systems	Beijing (China)	2011	Series D	$1.98B
Momenta	Developer of autonomous driving software	Beijing (China)	2016	Series C	$1.42B
WeRide	AI-powered self-driving technology for autonomous cars	Guangzhou (China)	2017	Public	$1.09B
Mobvoi	Developer of AI-powered voice interaction and generative AI technologies	Kowloon (China)	2012	Public	$255M

Get a longer list of companies

Companies founded year-on-year in the Artificial Intelligence sector in China

173 Artificial Intelligence startups in China were founded in 2017 - this is the most number of startups founded in any year in the last 10 years.

Total Number of Companies

Year	No. of companies
2025	35
2024	72
2023	124
2022	57
2021	79
2020	74
2019	102
2018	104
2017	173
2016	133

Stage-wise distribution of Artificial Intelligence sector companies in China

Out of the total 1,977 Artificial Intelligence companies in China, 738 have secured funding. Among them, 400 have reached Series A or higher, and 232 to Series B or beyond.

Founded - 1,977

Funded - 738

Series A+ - 400

Series B+ - 232

Series C+ - 142

Company Stage	No. of companies
Founded	1,977
Funded	738
Series A+	400
Series B+	232
Series C+	142

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Total funding year-on-year in the Artificial Intelligence sector in China

The Artificial Intelligence sector in China saw a total funding of more than $33.8B in the last 10 years. The most amount of funding was in 2021 at more than $7.78B.

Total Funding

Year	Total Funding
2025	$1.55B
2024	$3.53B
2023	$2.82B
2022	$2.04B
2021	$7.78B
2020	$2.96B
2019	$2.93B
2018	$6.44B
2017	$2.66B

Recent Funding Rounds in Artificial Intelligence in China

In the year 2025, till December 2025, Artificial Intelligence companies in China have raised $1.3B in equity funding across 45 rounds. In the same period last year (i.e. till December 2024), Artificial Intelligence companies in China had raised $3.53B across 83 rounds. So, 2025 has seen a 63.18% drop in funding in Artificial Intelligence companies in China as compared to 2024.

Here are some recent, important funding rounds in Artificial Intelligence companies in China:

Company	Round Raised	Amount Raised	Funding Date	Investors
Shenshi Technology	Series C	8628	Dec 24, 2025	Fortune Capital and 5 more
Zhiyuan Robot	Series B	1513	Dec 22, 2025	SDIC
Deep Intelligent Pharma	Series D	5923	Dec 11, 2025	CDH and 2 more
Superbo	Seed	1520	Dec 04, 2025	Deep Capital Group
Beijing Qingwei Intelligent Technology	Series C	5097	Dec 02, 2025	Beijing Venture Capital and 20 more

See a more detailed list of funding rounds

Plug and Play Tech Center is the top investor in Artificial Intelligence companies in China based on number of companies invested.

Here are some top investors in Artificial Intelligence companies in China:

Investor	Location	Top Portfolio Companies
Plug and Play Tech Center	Sunnyvale (United States)	Momenta, Greatbay-bio, Dayta and ORCA-TECH
Kleiner Perkins	Menlo Park (United States)	Miaozhen Systems and Ulucu
Felicis Ventures	Menlo Park (United States)	-
Tencent	Shenzhen (China)	Momenta, Black Sesame Technologies, Manus and MiningLamp
GGV Capital	Menlo Park (United States)	Momenta, Senyi, Axera and SoulApp

See a more detailed list of investors

In the year 2025, till December 2025, 2 acquisitions happened in Artificial Intelligence sector in China.

Here are some recent, important acquisitions in Artificial Intelligence sector in China:

Company	Acquisition Type	Acquisition Date	Acquirers
Manus	Business Acquisition	Dec 30, 2025	Meta
Infermove	Business Acquisition	Dec 19, 2025	Grab
Miro AI	Business Acquisition	Jul 11, 2023	Greenfly
Light Years Beyond	Business Acquisition	Jun 30, 2023	Meituan
Edugo	Business Acquisition	Jun 12, 2023	Docebo

See a more detailed list of acquisitions

Acquisition trends in Artificial Intelligence sector in China

Here are the acquisition trends in Artificial Intelligence sector in China:

Total Number of Acquisitions

Year	No. of companies
2026	-
2025	2
2024	-
2023	3
2022	1
2021	1
2020	-
2019	1
2018	1
2017	-

In the year 2026, till January 2026, 2 IPOs happened in Artificial Intelligence sector in China.

Here are some recent, important IPOs in Artificial Intelligence sector in China:

Company	IPO Date	Exchange Symbol
Zhipu	Jan 08, 2026	Hong Kong Exchanges (HKG)
Iluvatar CoreX	Jan 08, 2026	Hong Kong Exchanges (HKG)
51World	Dec 30, 2025	Hong Kong Exchanges (HKG)
Changsha Intelligent Driving Institute	Dec 19, 2025	Hong Kong Exchanges (HKG)
WeRide	Nov 06, 2025	Hong Kong Exchanges (HKG)

See a more detailed list of IPOs

Companies founded by alumni from top colleges in the Artificial Intelligence in China

Most number of Artificial Intelligence startups in China have been founded by alumni from Tsinghua University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Carnegie Mellon University.

College	No. of companies
Tsinghua University	35
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)	13
Carnegie Mellon University	8
Columbia University	7
University of California (Berkeley)	6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	5
Stanford University	5
University of Pennsylvania	5
University of Toronto	5
Imperial College London	4

Total funding in Artificial Intelligence companies founded by alumni from top colleges in China

In the last 10 years, Tsinghua University graduates' Artificial Intelligence companies in China have raised the most funding among top colleges. Columbia University alumni are second, and Carnegie Mellon University alumni are third.

College	Total Funding
Tsinghua University	$5.67B
Columbia University	$3.39B
Carnegie Mellon University	$1.65B
The University of Tokyo	$850M
University of Toronto	$734M
University of Waterloo	$387M
University of California (Los Angeles)	$385M
Yale University	$380M
University of Pennsylvania	$242M
University of Chicago	$213M