Li Mingyuan, mayor of Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, delivered the annual government work report during the sixth session of the 16th Xi'an Municipal People's Congress on Feb 2. The report reviewed the progress made in 2020 and during the 13th Five Year Plan period (2016-20) and set goals for 2021 and the 14th Five Year Plan period (2021-25).

Work review in 2020

In response to the sudden COVID-19 pandemic and the complicated and constantly changing situation, Xi'an promoted progress in high-quality economic development while ensuring the disease outbreak's prevention and control.

In 2020, Xi'an's GDP grew by 5.2 percent to more than 1 trillion yuan ($154.8 billion), the first northwestern Chinese city to surpass the 1-trillion-yuan GDP threshold.

The industrial added value above a designated size increased by 7 percent, while the investment in fixed assets grew by 12.3 percent.

It took less than a month for the city to contain the spread of COVID-19 and two months to eliminate locally confirmed cases.

About 28 billion yuan of taxes and fees were reduced or exempted for market entities.

The city also vigorously promoted the construction of an advanced manufacturing city. The six pillar industries' total output value exceeded 400 billion yuan, an increase of 23.7 percent.

The operating income of the five emerging sectors and the six major productive service industries increased by 8.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.

In terms of project construction, 328 city-level key projects under construction completed an investment of 369.67 billion yuan, reaching 131.5 percent of the annual plan.

The city built and renovated 161 pocket parks, urban parks and green space squares throughout the year, adding 10.95 million square meters of urban green space.

It also introduced 23 measures to promptly stabilize employment, issued 934 million yuan in guarantee loans for entrepreneurship and issued 470 million yuan in unemployment insurance and subsidies to 83,000 people.

Work review during 13th Five Year Plan (2016-20)

The total economic volume continuously increased over the past five years, achieving a historic breakthrough.

The total fiscal revenue exceeded 150 billion yuan, an increase of 38.3 percent over 2015.

During the five years, the number of the city's listed companies at home and abroad reached 80, and the number of national high-tech enterprises exceeded 5,000, 1.3 times and 3.8 times the numbers in 2015, respectively.

The total value of imports and exports exceeded 340 billion yuan, 1.9 times that of 2015.

Regarding environmental protection, the newly added ecological water surface area reached 12,600 mu (840 hectares), with the city's forest coverage rate reaching 48.03 percent.

In terms of poverty alleviation, the city lifted 73,721 households – totaling 250,414 persons – out of poverty. More than 450 billion yuan of fiscal expenditures was used to improve people's livelihoods, 1.6 times that of the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2010-15).

Work plans for 2021

In 2021, Xi'an's GDP is expected to increase by more than 7 percent, while the industrial added value above a designated size is projected to grow by more than 8 percent.

The municipal governments work over the next year will focus on 10 aspects, including technological innovation, the real economy, cultural construction and optimizing the business environment.

Targets and vision for 14th Five Year Plan (2021-25)

By 2025, Xi'an's total economic output is projected to exceed 1.4 trillion yuan.

By 2035, Xi'an will completely build a national central city with international influence and competitiveness and an international metropolis with historical and cultural characteristics.