Xi'an: Marching forward to an International Metropolis

1. City Characteristics and Development Orientation

Xi'an, known as Chang'an in ancient times, is the provincial capital of Shaanxi Province. With a city-building history of over 3,100 years, it served as the imperial capital for 13 successive feudal dynasties across more than 1,100 years. It ranks among the World's Four Great Ancient Capitals, alongside Athens, Rome and Cairo, boasting profound and time-honored civilizations.

Covering a total administrative area of 10,097.01 square kilometers (10,752 sq km including Xixian New Area), Xi'an recorded a permanent resident population of 13,236,300 by the end of 2025. It broke the RMB 1 trillion GDP threshold in 2020, and its regional GDP reached RMB 1.390267 trillion in 2025, ranking top 20 among all Chinese cities.In January 2017, the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Government issued a decision to place Xixian New Area under Xi'an's administrative trusteeship; full comprehensive management authority was fully delegated to Xi'an in June 2021, injecting strong momentum into the construction of Greater Xi'an.

Centered on its core national central city positioning of building the Three Centers, Two Highland and One Comprehensive Hub (Western Economic Center, Silk Road Science & Technology Innovation Center, International Exchange Center; Silk Road Cultural Highland, Inland Opening-up Highland; National Comprehensive Transportation Hub), Xi'an anchors the "Five Major Priorities for High-quality Development" during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030). It advances nine key development priorities to achieve remarkable progress in economic strength, innovation vitality, opening-up level, cultural influence, transportation hub functions, urban public services, ecological environment, people's livelihood security and social governance capacity.

2. Investment Promotion Overview and Investment Environment Features

All targeted water treatment projects for the Xi'an section of the Wei River have been completed on schedule; the 124km landscape avenue along the southern bank of the Wei River is fully finished. A series of landmark ecological projects including the Lao River comprehensive management project and Meibei Lake ecological park have been fully implemented.

The Chang'an China-Europe Railway Express operates normalized daily regular routes to Europe. Core European trunk lines run six westbound and three eastbound trains weekly, covering over 200 cities across 26 Eurasian countries as of 2026. Xi'an is the first city in Northwest China to launch the 240-hour (10-day) transit visa exemption policy (upgraded from the old 72-hour scheme in December 2024), which allows eligible foreign travelers to travel throughout the whole Shaanxi Province within the valid period. Five countries have set up Consulates General in Xi'an, and more than 30 visa application centers for European and Asian nations are settled in the Xi'an Consulate Zone.

Shaanxi Province has continuously deepened the reform of streamlining administration, delegating powers and optimizing regulation. Approval authority over 382 administrative items has been cancelled or delegated to lower authorities, cutting the average project approval cycle by more than half. A third-party government performance evaluation mechanism has been introduced, together with standardized open communication programs and a multi-level supervision & inspection system to streamline regulatory procedures for market entities.

3. Key Milestones of International Business Services

(1) In October 2022, the Science and Technology Department of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and Xixian New Area Science and Technology Bureau jointly issued Shaanxi's first foreign talent entrepreneurship work permit in Fengdong New City Free Trade Zone. The zone has long provided full employment and entrepreneurship support services for overseas talents. Leveraging its distinctive industrial advantages, it focuses on meeting the entrepreneurial demands of international students studying in Shaanxi, and continues to upgrade supporting foreign talent service facilities through 2025–2026.

(2) In November 2022, Shaanxi Provincial Official Legal Service Platform launched the dedicated "Belt and Road International Commercial Legal Services Hub". It serves as an all-in-one integrated legal service platform that gathers international cooperation organizations, judicial authorities, arbitration institutions, law firms, notary offices and legal service centers. Up to 2026, the platform has expanded its cross-border legal database, added multilingual online consultation channels and launched regular overseas commercial legal training events for foreign investors. Its core functions include cross-border legal database inquiry, online consultation & appointment, and integrated handling of foreign-related legal cases, international treaties and commercial practice documents.