A panoramic aerial view of Xi'an. [Photo/Xi'an news network]

Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, recently ranked 7th in an assessment of 78 national innovative cities and ranked first in West China.

That's according to the 2021 evaluation report on the innovation capacity of national innovative cities, which was released by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China at the Ministry of Science and Technology.

National innovative cities take scientific and technological innovation as the core driving force of urban economic and social development, with complete and effective innovative governance, various innovation platforms and strong economic innovation competitiveness.

Xi'an has many innovation initiatives on the move. It launched the construction of the Qinchuangyuan innovation-driven platform in 2021. [Photo/Xi'an news network]

In 2021, focusing on building the Silk Road Science and Technology Innovation Center, Xi'an launched the construction of the Qinchuangyuan innovation-driven platform, with achievements on scientific and technological innovation endeavors.

Currently, Xi'an is home to more than 7,000 high-tech enterprises. In 2021, the city's investment intensity on research and development amounted to 5.05 percent, ranking it second in sub-provincial cities.

The city's turnover of technology contracts exceeded 180 billion yuan ($28.31 billion) in 2021, a year-on-year increase of more than 13 percent.

Since 2021, Xi'an has accelerated its construction of scientific and technological innovation platforms, adding 81 municipal engineering technology centers. Last year, the National Supercomputer (Xi'an) Center completed a cumulative investment of more than 1.6 billion yuan.

In terms of the innovative layout of its industrial supply chains, seven provincial-level innovation consortiums were established related to advanced rare metal materials, semiconductors, integrated circuits and additive manufacturing – as well as nine municipal-level innovation consortiums.

Meanwhile, the city's favorable innovation environment has attracted many domestic and foreign talents to start a business there. So far, Xi'an has 3.44 million talents of various types, represented by top scientific and technological talent and high-end leading talent, and about 10,000 foreigners live and work in the city.

The 5th Xi'an Job Fair for Overseas Returnees takes place in Xi'an on Aug 19, 2021. [Photo/Xi'an news network]