Gazelle companies are playing an increasingly important role in generating employment and infusing vigor and vitality into the Chinese economy, especially in the face of economic challenges.
EastEnergy, headquartered in Yantai, a city in the coastal province of Shandong in east China, boasts a quintessential "gazelle company," with a robust growth trajectory. The firm specializes in delivering tailored energy storage solutions for a variety of application scenarios.
In the first half of this year, its revenue surged to over 1.2 billion yuan (some 175 million U.S. dollars), more than doubling its earnings from the same period of last year, and more than 100 times that of three years ago.
The company's skyrocketing revenue growth can be attributed to the burgeoning new energy sector, according to Tang Shuai, general manager of the company.
"The new energy sector is thriving, with wind power and photovoltaic technologies becoming increasingly prevalent. Consequently, the demand for energy storage equipment is seeing exponential growth," Tang said.
Gazelle companies, much like their namesake, the agile and swift antelope of the African savanna, are characterized by their rapid growth and exceptional innovation capabilities. These companies, while not yet giants, are on a fast track to scaling new heights, often possessing groundbreaking technology and unique business models.
They are regarded as potential unicorns -- private companies valued at over 1 billion U.S. dollars each, typically less than a decade old, and possessing core technologies and competitive advantages.
The number of gazelle companies in a region is often a barometer of its innovative capacity and growth velocity. Unicorns, with their immense potential and innovative prowess, are vital indicators of an economy's and region's innovation environment and competitiveness.
According to the firm, back to 2018 when the company was established, few could predict its evolution into a company of such vast potential.
Through years of dedicated research and development, the firm boasts 40-plus invention patents.
Aligning with the national strategy to expedite renewable energy development, EastEnergy has seized the sector's growth momentum, expanding its market presence both domestically and internationally, emerging as a pioneer in the new energy domain.
This firm saw its revenue leapfrog from more than 20 million yuan (2.86 million U.S. dollars) in 2021 to an expected 2-plus billion yuan (286 million U.S. dollars) this year, marking a 100-fold increase in just three years.
Handpicked by the local government this year, it will build a new energy storage industrial park in the city.
"The industrial park covers an area of 70,000 square meters. Both the government and we ourselves are highly confident that this marks an initial step in energy storage, a major sector in the development zone," Tang said.
According to Zhao Ling, an official in charge of the city's development of industry and information technology, the city, propelled by a number of gazelle enterprises, is set to intensify its endeavors to advance industrial growth.
"We will accelerate the construction of an industrial system with significant innovation capability, with comprehensive coordinated development of the upstream and the downstream, and with competitiveness and influence both at home and abroad, so as to strive to exceed 100 billion yuan (14.3 billion U.S. dollars) in industrial scale by 2030," Zhao said.
Gazelle companies hop to prominence in China
