BEIJING, March 24 -- China is home to 36 percent of the world's "unicorn companies," startups valued at more than 1 billion U.S. dollars, an expert said Saturday.

Having transformed from a follower into a potential leader, China is catching up fast in technological innovation, said Wang Yiming, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, in a speech at the China Development Forum.

In sectors such as mobile payment, e-commerce and new energy, China ranks among the world's leaders, Wang said.

Data showed Alibaba's Ant Financial and Didi Chuxing are among the world's top unicorn companies.

As China's policymakers pledged to steer the economy onto a new path featuring high-quality growth, rather than high-speed growth, a booming digital economy is reshaping China's economic landscape on the back of technology such as big data and AI.

In recent weeks, the country's regulators signaled that they would fast-track new listings by unicorn companies to "invigorate the country's capital market and foster the new economy."