高宇宁：“独角兽企业”的核心竞争力在于其解决消费者迫切需求的能力｜Beijing Review

根据全球创业投资领域通行的说法，“独角兽企业”（Unicorn Companies）是指那些估值达到10亿美元以上的创业公司。因其稀有、珍贵，能够跻身"独角兽俱乐部"成了全球无数创业者的梦想。

英文原文载丨Beijing Review（2018年06月24日 No.24）

英文转载丨Bloomburg Businessweek，China Focus专栏（2018年7月2日 No.4575)

翻译｜清华大学国情研究院

图｜网络

中国的新型经济正在发展壮大。随着创业和创新日益受到关注，中国正在经历增长动力的重大转变，与此同时一批民营和快速发展的初创企业也为中国提供了推动力。德勤(Deloitte)发布的一项研究显示，截至2017年6月底，全球共有252家“独角兽”初创企业，估值超过10亿美元，其中106家和98家分别位于美国和中国，远远超过其他所有国家。

曼彻斯特摩拜共享单车(新华社) 

“中国的创新能力目前基本上与美国相当，中国'独角兽企业'的强劲增长反映了这一点。这些公司中的大多数都是各自领域的表现出众者和领跑者，”名川资本合伙创始人、赛富投资基金前合伙人王求乐在接受《北京周报》采访时这样说道。

总部位于北京、专注于消费电子产品的“独角兽企业”巨头小米最近正申请在香港上市，可能筹集近100亿美元左右的资金，这是近四年来全球规模最大的IPO。与此同时，有消息称这家智能手机巨头可能通过发行中国存托凭证(CDRs)进入A股市场。

中国内地和香港证券监管机构正不遗余力地通过改善上市政策来吸引“独角兽企业”。6月6日，中国证监会(CSRC)发布了《存托凭证发行与交易管理办法》，证券监管机构还发布了修改后的IPO规则，以及支持“独角兽企业”在国内发行股票或存托凭证的一系列措施。与此同时，香港交易所批准了具有双重股权结构的创新型、高增长公司上市，正是根据这项规定小米公司才得以上市。

“消费能力的提高、生产率的改善和足够的创业精神，为中国企业的发展和繁荣提供了必要的条件和资源。然而长期以来，严格的国内上市要求和较高的门槛，以及美国股市对中国公司不冷不热的态度，都使这些公司失去了在二级市场融资的机会。他们别无选择，只能在一级市场融资，这就解释了为什么有这么多‘独角兽企业’诞生，”王求乐继续说道。他预计，随着中国内地和香港的业务增长，将有越来越多的“独角兽企业”在内地和香港完成IPO发行。

一名用户通过蚂蚁金服集团提供的第三方支付服务——支付宝在无人便利店购物（新华社）

 核心竞争力 

创新和良好的商业环境为中国快速发展的“独角兽”新时代奠定了基础。然而，尽管这一群体中的一些顶级公司将在二级市场上取得成功，但其他能力较差的公司可能会落后甚至倒闭。

清华大学公共管理学院副教授、国情研究院副研究员高宇宁在接受《北京周报》采访时表示：“除了吸引资本的能力之外，‘独角兽企业’需要进一步培养和保持其创新能力，这种创新能力和在实验室开发某种技术的能力相比，更注重的是如何整合和利用各种市场资源。”这种创新可能涉及到各种技术，这些技术不一定是中国开发的，但中国的“独角兽企业”可以有效地加以整合，形成一种新的安全有效的商业模式。

北极光创投董事总经理李立新在接受《北京周报》采访时表示:“‘独角兽’应该能够成长为一个平台型的公司，而不是仅仅是完全依赖一项技术，只有这样公司才能实现可持续、快速的发展。”

“许多已经上市或即将上市的大公司都是平台型的公司，比如阿里巴巴、腾讯和滴滴出行。这样的公司代表了一种特定的商业环境，许多中小企业都在其中。“李立新说。

高宇宁说：“‘独角兽’还需要在一定的市场份额中保持领先地位，深入挖掘这一领域，而不是盲目地寻求扩张，这样才能开发更好的服务和产品，更好地满足市场需求。”并补充道：‘独角兽’的核心竞争力在于其解决消费者迫切需求的能力。以共享单车为例，提供这项服务的公司并不依赖于特别先进或难以获得的技术，它们设法提供了满足人们需求的服务，而人们的这种需求恰好又是无穷无尽的。

“这里的竞争比美国市场更残酷、更激烈，所以一支快速学习的团队是必不可少的，融资能力以及股东结构也发挥着重要作用。在某些情况下，由于上述领域的差异，提供相同质量和服务的公司会产生完全不同的结果。”王求乐先生说。

 潜在的挑战 

“资金和创新是企业成长的两个重要因素。然而，过度的融资和创新可能会产生泡沫，一旦泡沫破裂，可能会影响到企业家、投资者和政府的信心。”王求乐先生说。随着平台公司之间的斗争继续，在消费者的时间、注意力和精力之间的竞争正在加剧。

高宇宁说：“重要的是一家公司能否创造出消费者真正需要的价值，不仅仅是经济利益，更多的是知识、娱乐、休闲等价值。”除了市场价值之外，对企业社会责任的要求也在稳步上升，就像滴滴出行对其司机和交易的监管，以及互联网借贷平台保护个人数据和抵御金融风险的责任。

李立新表示：“此外，老牌‘独角兽企业’通过调整商业模式而茁壮成长，并继续扩张自己的地盘，与此同时羽翼未丰的公司可能会发现自己受到挤压。另一方面，如果科技公司的增长速度不够快，它们很可能会被势头更猛的行业新进者超越。”

 进一步开放 

毫无疑问，中国政府希望看到成功的公司选择在内地或香港上市，这样中国人民就能分享新经济带来的回报。

李立新说：“过去，A股市场的严格要求和广泛限制，阻止了许多‘独角兽企业’试图在国内上市。现在，随着门槛的降低，国内IPO申请的新趋势正在形成，中国资本市场的国际竞争力将进一步提高。”

相反，在发达和成熟的金融市场发行CDRs通常能找到适合自己的道路，而在国内股市发行CDRs，则对监管、信息获取途径和投资者保护有更高的要求。

从6月7日起，符合条件的创新企业就可在新的试点CDR方案下向证监会递送CDR发行申请。中国证监会表示，将严格控制试点企业的数量和资金规模，合理安排CDR发行的时间和节奏。

高宇宁说：“通过借鉴国外更加成熟的市场，中国应建立一个以跨市场、混合经营为特色的综合金融监管体系。”同时他还强调，保护知识产权和释放更多的税收抵免来鼓励创新。“我们应该加大开放力度，比如允许快速增长的民营企业获得跨境资本和收益。”他希望这些企业可以享受与外资企业一样的平等待遇和优惠政策。

“随着越来越多的中国‘独角兽企业’通过在内地市场发行存托凭证(CDRs)来上市，将会有巨大的资金需求，与此同时已在A股上市的大公司将进行增发。这超出了目前资本市场填补资本需求缺口的能力，”李立新说，并指出需要努力增加资金的供应。

为了解决这一问题，中国需要扩大资本来源，允许更多海外资金流入股市。据王求乐所说，在允许“独角兽企业”在国内上市的过程中，中国政府应该推动人民币的自由兑换和国际化，并推进中国股市的开放。

同时，要优化投资者结构。王求乐说，“在中国股市，约80%的参与者是私人投资者，而在海外市场，多数参与者是机构投资者。因此，应该鼓励私人投资者将资金委托给那些更专业、更理性、更能承受波动和风险的机构投资者。”他还说，中国也应该允许更多的私人和海外资金进入股市。

“然而，开放的步骤应该符合中国当前的经济地位和全球投资者对中国的信心。否则，可能会出现问题。” 王求乐说。他提到了对泰铢和俄罗斯卢布的疯狂投机，他认为这是不均衡开放的结果。

Mythical Beasts

China becomes the home of the world's second most unicorn companies

By Deng Yaqing | NO. 24 JUNE 14, 2018

Shared bikes offered by Mobike in Manchester (XINHUA)

China's new-look economy is gaining momentum. With focus having been laid on entrepreneurship and innovation, a cluster of privately owned and rapidly growing startups have provided a boost for the country as it undergoes a momentous shift in growth drivers.

According to a study released by Deloitte, by the end of June 2017 there were 252 unicorns—startup companies valued at over $1 billion—worldwide, 106 and 98 of which were in the United States and China respectively, far surpassing every other country.

"China's innovation capacity is now largely on par with America's, which is reflected by the robust growth of Chinese unicorns. Most of these companies are excellent performers and frontrunners in their respective fields," said Albert Wang, founding partner of Maintrend Capital and former partner of SAIF Partners, in an interview with Beijing Review.

Xiaomi, a Beijing-based unicorn heavyweight specializing in consumer electronics, recently filed to go public in Hong Kong, where it could raise about $10 billion in the largest listing globally in almost four years. Meanwhile, there are sources suggesting that the smartphone giant may enter the A-share market through the issuance of Chinese Depositary Receipts (CDRs).

Chinese mainland and Hong Kong securities regulators are sparing no effort to attract unicorn companies by improving their listing policies. On June 6, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued rules on a test run for the issuance and trading of CDRs. The securities regulator has also released amended rules on IPO and a package of measures to support unicorn companies in their domestic issuance of stocks or CDRs. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has permitted the listing of innovative, high-growth companies with a dual-class stock structure, according to which Xiaomi can get listed.

"Increasing consumption capacity, improving productivity and abundant entrepreneurship have provided the necessary conditions and resources for Chinese companies to grow and prosper," Wang said.

"However, the strict requirements and high threshold for getting listed in the domestic market and the American stock market's lukewarm attitude toward Chinese firms have long denied these companies the opportunity to raise capital in the secondary market. They have no choice but to finance in the primary market, which explains the birth of so many unicorns," Wang continued, predicting that an increasing number of Chinese unicorns will seek to accomplish IPOs in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong as their business grows.

A client shops at an unmanned convenience store by paying with Alipay, third-party payment service offered by Ant Financial Services Group (XINHUA)

Core competitiveness

Innovation and a favorable business environment have set the stage for China's new era of fast-growing unicorns. Yet, while some of the top companies in this group will find success in the secondary market, other less competent ones could lag behind or even collapse.

"Besides the ability to attract capital, unicorns need to foster and maintain the ability to innovate in order to survive, which focuses more on integration and making use of various market resources than sticking to the development of a certain technology in the laboratory," Gao Yuning, an associate professor with the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, told Beijing Review.

Such innovation could involve a variety of technologies which are not necessarily developed by China, but can nonetheless be consolidated by Chinese unicorns in an efficient way to form a new secure and effective business model.

"A unicorn should be able to grow into a platform company rather than relying entirely on a single technology, and only in this way can such a company realize sustainable and rapid development," Li Lixin, Managing Director of Northern Light Venture Capital, told Beijing Review.

"Many great companies which have gone on to be listed are platform companies, such as Alibaba, Tencent and Didi Chuxing. Such a company represents a certain business environment in which a host of small and medium-sized companies reside," said Li.

A unicorn also needs to maintain a leading position in a certain section of the market and dig deeper into this area rather than blindly seeking expansion so that it can develop superior services and products to better satisfy market demands, said Gao.

At the heart of a unicorn's competitiveness is its ability to address the urgent needs of consumers, Gao added. Take shared bikes for example. The companies offering this service do not rely on particularly advanced or hard-to-come-by technology, but they have nonetheless managed to provide a service which people need and the demand for which is inexhaustible.

"Competition here is more brutal and fierce than in the American market and so a fast learning team is indispensable. Financing capacity as well as shareholder structure also play an important role. In some cases, companies which provide products and services of the same quality experience totally different outcomes due to disparities in the above-mentioned areas," said Wang.

Potential challenges

"Funding and innovation are two essential factors for corporate growth. However, excessive financing and innovation may generate bubbles which, once they burst, may affect the confidence of entrepreneurs, investors and governments," said Wang.

As the struggle among platform companies continues, competition over consumers' time, attention and energy is intensifying.

"What matters is whether a company can create the value that consumers really need. Here value means not economic benefit, but knowledge, entertainment, relaxation and so on," said Gao.

Alongside market value, requirements for corporate social responsibility have steadily risen, as seen by Didi Chuxing's supervision over its drivers and transactions, and Internet lending platforms' duty to protect personal data and fend off financial risks, said Gao.

"Moreover, as established unicorns which thrive by adjusting their business models continue to expand their territories, fledgling companies may find themselves squeezed. On the flip side, if technology companies fail to grow fast enough, they will likely be outstripped by industry newcomers with greater momentum," said Li.

Further opening up

There is no doubt that the Chinese Government wants to see successful companies choose to go public in the mainland or Hong Kong markets, so that Chinese people can share in the rewards of the new economy.

"In the past, the strict requirements and extensive restrictions of the A-share market deterred numerous unicorns from attempting to get listed at home. Now, with the threshold lowered, a new trend of domestic IPO applications is taking shape, and the international competitiveness of China's capital market will be further improved," said Li.

Conversely, CDRs usually find their way in developed and mature financial markets, and the issuance of CDRs in domestic stock markets necessitates higher requirements for supervision, access to information and investor protection.

From June 7, qualified innovative firms can submit applications for CDR issuance to the CSRC under the new pilot CDR program. The CSRC said it will strictly control the number of enterprises and the volume of funding for the pilot CDR program, and properly arrange the timing and pace of CDR issuance.

"By learning from more mature overseas market, China should establish a comprehensive financial supervision system featuring cross-market and joint operation," said Gao, who also emphasized the protection of intellectual property rights and the release of more tax credits to encourage innovation.

"More efforts should be made in opening up, such as allowing cross-border capital and profit flow for fast-growing privately held companies," said Gao, who expects these enterprises to enjoy the same equal treatment and preferential policies as foreign-funded companies.

"As more Chinese unicorns look to go public by issuing CDRs in the mainland market, there will be a huge demand for capital, while giant companies currently listed in the A-share market will carry out additional issuance. It is beyond the capacity of the present capital market to fill the gap in capital demand," said Li, noting that efforts need to be made to increase the supply of funds.

To address the problem, China needs to widen its capital sources by allowing more overseas funds to flow into its stock market. According to Wang, in the process of enabling unicorns to go public at home, the Chinese authorities should push for the free convertibility and internationalization of the yuan and press ahead with the opening up of China's stock market.

At the same time, investor structure should be optimized. "In China's stock market, about 80 percent of players are private investors, while in overseas markets the majority of market players are institutional investors. It follows that private investors should be encouraged to entrust their money to institutional investors who are more professional, rational and are better equipped to withstand fluctuations and risks," said Wang, adding that the country should also allow more private and overseas money to enter the stock market.

"However, the steps toward opening up should be in line with China's current economic stature and global investors' confidence in the country. Otherwise, problems may occur," said Wang, citing rampant speculation on the Thai baht and Russian ruble, which he believes is the consequence of disproportionate opening up.

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