(Yicai Global) March 23 -- China had 164 startup companies with a valuation of more than USD1 billion last year, the country's science and technology ministry announced in the China Unicorn Enterprise Development Report it published today.

Ant Financial Services Group led the list at USD75 billion. It is the financial services arm of internet mammoth Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Among the top startups on the list were ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing with a valuation of USD56 billion, Xiaomi Technology Co. at USD46 billion, Alibaba unit Alibaba Cloud pegged at USD39 billio,n and online takeout food platform Meituan Dianping with USD30 billion. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., a power battery developer set to become the biggest by 2020, became the most highly-valued non-internet unicorn company at USD20 billion.

The criteria for Chinese unicorn companies the ministry applies are: registration in China, no more than 10 years in existence, unlisted, and a valuation exceeding USD1 billion.