Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, posted robust growth in its foreign trade in 2021 – with the value of its imports and exports exceeding the 400 billion yuan ($63.15 billion) threshold to 440 billion yuan, up 26.5 percent year-on-year, according to Xi'an Customs.

Since 2021, in the face of the severe and complex international economic situation and the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic to foreign trade, Xi'an has acted.

The city has rolled out a series of policies and incentives to enhance the vitality of its foreign trade companies.

A panoramic view of Xi'an. [Photo by Wang Jian/Xi'an Daily]

As a result, the number of enterprises conducting foreign trade last year was 2,904, an increase of 142 over the previous year.

That dynamic growth was boosted by cross-border e-commerce, which developed rapidly in 2021, providing strong support for enterprises to explore overseas markets.

The value of cross-border e-commerce in the year totaled 9.85 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.32 percent.

Moreover, in 2021, Xi'an was given the green light to build the first batch of national processing trade industrial parks. Indeed, the city's annual processing trade imports and exports rose by 20.4 percent year-on-year to 252.21 billion yuan.

To further penetrate international markets, the city also actively participated in key exhibition events including the Canton Fair, the China International Import Expo, the China-ASEAN Expo and the Euro-Asia Economic Forum.

Xi'an also reported a 29 percent increase last year in trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, which was worth 70.48 billion yuan.