Summary：The city of Xi'an, once known as the capital Chang'an in ancient times, is again playing a leading role...

The city of Xi'an, once known as the capital Chang'an in ancient times, is again playing a leading role for the nation by making breakthroughs in terms of opening-up in line with the Belt and Road Initiative.

The city in Northwest China's Shaanxi province has consolidated its place in the BRI in the past five years by extensively developing its transport network of roads, rail and air routes.

Based on a multidimensional transportation system involving highways, railways and aviation, Xi'an has used its geographic advantage to build new Silk Road routes which are serving opening-up, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The city is expediting projects to help it become a new global aviation hub with the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport offering 58 overseas air routes to 47 cities including Paris, Moscow and Sydney by mid-October.

More than 10 freight routes have also been put into action, transporting goods between Xi'an and cities including Amsterdam and Chicago.

International railway services have also connected Xi'an by land to regions abroad. Its Chang'an freight train operated 1,030 times in the first 10 months of this year, carrying more than 1.05 million tons of goods.

The city has developed cross-border e-commerce to build what it calls the "online Silk Road". As of last year, there were more than 240 companies registered on it.

 

Platforms such as the pilot free trade zone have made Xi'an a more important inland region in the past five years. The State Council approved a plan in 2016 for Xi'an to systematically promote comprehensive innovation and reform, and the city has used its pilot projects as an opportunity to become an innovative center involved in the BRI.

Statistics show that invention patent authorizations in Xi'an reached 7,902 in 2017, up 34.5 percent when compared with 2015.

Transaction volume in the technological market amounted to 84.84 billion yuan ($12.24 billion) last year, up 28.4 percent when compared with 2015.

Currently, Xi'an is home to several main platforms for communications and cooperation among China and countries involved in the BRI, including the Euro-Asia Economic Forum and the Silk Road International Exposition. The city has advantaged location and platform resources for Asia-Europe communications and cooperation, local officials said.

To promote related universities' and colleges' cooperation in education, science and technology and culture, Xi'an Jiaotong University led the establishment of the University Alliance of the Silk Road, which has attracted 135 higher learning institutions from 35 countries and regions.

The city has released a series of policy documents and plans to make the road map and timeline clear for developing the BRI.

It has also furthered overseas cooperation and attracted 22 countries to establish consulates and visa centers.

The city has actively set up partnership networks with other regions involved in the initiative and encouraged its key enterprises to invest in those regions.

It has continued to improve its system and mechanisms for opening-up and strengthened people-to-people exchanges. The city has set up work sites for overseas professionals and signed cooperation agreements in five countries including France and Russia.

According to the city government, Xi'an will continue its problem-oriented, objective-oriented and effect-oriented development and intensify organizational leadership, top-level design and mutual learning.

It aims to play a leading role in Shaanxi province's development in the BRI.

Noted market research and opinion survey organization Dataway showed in late April that the comprehensive ranking of business environment in Xi'an was 11th among 74 major cities nationally.

Statistics showed the city actually attracted domestic capital worth 150 billion yuan in the first half of this year and actually used in $3.15 billion foreign capital. The number of its colleges and universities ranks the third nationally and it follows Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in terms of how many international conventions and exhibitions it has held.

Xi'an is among the top tourist destinations for foreigners who visit China and one of the world's renowned ancient capitals, they said.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn

A visitor tries out an intelligent robot at the third Silk Road International Exposition in Xi’an, Shaanxi province. Shao Rui / Xinhua