More start-ups valued at $1 billion or more — so-called "unicorns" — are coming to China within the next five years, a J.P. Morgan Chase executive said on Wednesday.
"We are very excited about the prospects for technology in China," said Jing Ulrich, managing director and vice chairman for Asia Pacific at the investment banking giant.
In particular, China is "really leading the way globally" in the realms of artificial intelligence, "new-energy" vehicles and electronic payments, Ulrich said at CNBC's East Tech West conference in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, China.
"I would say in the next three to five years, in some of these verticals, you will have a number of unicorns and super-unicorns emerging, and they should be very, very popular among investors globally," Ulrich said.
Unicorns are commonly defined as start-ups valued at $1 billion or more.
Ulrich's upbeat assessment comes amid an intense trade fight between Beijing and Washington. Investors will closely watch a weekend meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
'Hopeful'
Ulrich said she was "hopeful" for a de-escalation in trade tensions between the world's two largest economies, with China offering a package of "concessions" such as improving intellectual property protection and allowing access to its domestic market.
"The two sides are both coming to the table to work out some kind of resolution. Even though the resolution may be short-term, but a temporary truce should be positive for markets," Ulrich said.
"Of course, we cannot hold out hope that this one dinner will actually end all trade escalation or trade tensions forever. But at least, I think, there is something to look forward to. We do see some kind of light at the end of the tunnel," Ulrich said.
J.P. Morgan Chase expects China's economic growth to slow to 6.1 percent in 2019 from 6.6 percent in 2018.
