The China-Central Asia Summit held in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, on May 18-19 has brought new development opportunities for the city's foreign trade.

From January to May, the city's automobile exports reached 6.75 billion yuan ($941.67 million), a growth of 175 percent.

The BYD production line swings into action in Xi'an. [Photo/Xi'an Daily]

In terms of market entities, there were 243 new foreign trade market entities in the city from January to May. Imports and exports by private enterprises amounted to 61.63 billion yuan, an increase of 5.7 percent.

During the China-Central Asia Summit, the city took the opportunity to participate in international exhibitions such as the China Commodity Expo in Kazakhstan. This allowed Xi'an to develop further economic and trade relationships with Russia, Central Asia, and ASEAN countries.

During the same timeframe, the city's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative amounted to 48.44 billion yuan, demonstrating a remarkable growth of 42.9 percent. Specifically, the imports and exports with Russia and ASEAN nations recorded 10.15 billion yuan and 27.43 billion yuan, respectively. These figures indicate impressive increases of 216.5 percent and 28.4 percent.

A China-Europe Chang'an freight train departs from Xi'an. [Photo/WeChat account of Xi'an Release]

Cross-border e-commerce is also rapidly developing. Xi'an has established the Xi'an Cross-border E-commerce Association to promote the development of cross-border e-commerce clusters.

By the end of May, the China-Europe Chang'an freight train special for cross-border e-commerce made 390 trips. The city's cross-border e-commerce transaction volume reached 5.87 billion yuan in the first five months, an increase of 18.6 percent.