In the first half of this year, Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province saw a year-on-year increase of 7.8 percent in gross domestic product to 509.96 billion yuan ($78.81 billion), according to a news conference held by the municipal government on Oct 13.
Xi'an aims for high-quality development. [Photo/Xi'an municipal government's WeChat account]
The press conference reported that from January to August this year, the added value of the city's industries above designated size increased by 6.5 percent, and the total value of imports and exports was 287.36 billion yuan, up 26.4 percent.
Since the beginning of this year, Xi'an has been promoting the construction of a national new-generation artificial intelligence innovation development pilot zone and a national key & core technology innovation demonstration zone.
From January to September this year, five technology-based enterprises became listed, 81 engineering technology research centers were identified, and the number of maker carriers above the municipal level reached 300.
In the first eight months, investment in high-tech manufacturing increased by 17.7 percent year-on-year, with an average growth rate of 35.9 percent over the two years.
The city also added 12.42 million square meters of urban green space in the first half. The 205-kilometer greenway of the Chanba, Weihe, and Fenghe Rivers and Qinling Mountains opened to the public, with a core section of 74 km accessible to those with disabilities.
The city's business environment has also been improved. From January to August, 363,800 new market entities of various types were registered in the city, a year-on-year increase of 31.9 percent.
In addition, Xi'an has made efforts to ensure employment through a variety of measures. As of the end of August, 122,900 jobs were created in the city's urban areas, and the registered urban unemployment rate was 3.4 percent.
Moving forward, Xi'an will make persistent efforts to achieve higher-quality, more efficient, fairer, and more sustainable development.