Beijing topped the list of cities with the most "unicorn" companies, with 54 startups according to the Hurun Greater China Unicorn Index 2017 released Dec 21.

A unicorn, by definition, is a startup company valued at more than $1 billion. The list surveyed 120 unicorn companies with a total estimated value of more than 3 trillion yuan ($458 billion) in China.

Shanghai took second position with 28 unicorns, and Hangzhou followed Shanghai with 13 unicorns.

Notably, the 13 unicorn companies in Hangzhou have a higher total estimated value than the 28 unicorns in Shanghai combined.

Here is the full list of cities with the most unicorn companies.

No 5 Guangzhou

Number of companies: 3

Total estimated value: 21 billion yuan

No 4 Shenzhen

Number of companies: 10

Total estimated value: 284 billion yuan

No 3 Hangzhou

Number of companies: 13

Total estimated value: 542 billion yuan

A customer collects her parcel via face recognition technology provided by Ant Financial Service Group, a fintech company headquartered in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, in Shanghai on Sept 14, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

No 2 Shanghai

Number of companies: 28

Total estimated value: 458 billion yuan

No 1 Beijing

Number of companies: 54

Total estimated value: 1.38 trillion yuan