Going places: An impressive view of Xi'an. [Photo/Xi'an municipal government's WeChat account]

From 2012 to 2021, Xi'an – capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province – has improved its innovation capabilities, enhanced its scientific research strength and stimulated the vitality of its business entities.

In 2020, the internal expenditure of the city's R&D funds topped 50 billion yuan ($7.03 billion), reaching 50.61 billion yuan. That was an increase of 27.66 billion yuan over 2012, with average annual growth of 12.4 percent from 2013 to 2020.

From 2012 to 2020, the R&D expenditure intensity – the ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP – was maintained at a high level. That came in at an average annual rate of 5.15 percent: 2.99 and 3.02 percentage points higher than that of the province and the entire country, respectively.

In March 2021, Xi'an got the green light for the construction of a national new generation artificial intelligence innovation and development pilot zone. As a result, the city ushered in new opportunities to ramp up its artificial intelligence industry.

Furthermore, Xi'an ranked 7th among the top 10 innovative cities in the country, according to the 2021 evaluation report on national innovation cities.

In the wake of the introduction and implementation of the Xi'an intellectual property strategy outline (2012-2020), last year the total number of patents authorized in Xi'an was 64,131. That was 5.4 times the number in 2012, of which 14,055 invention patents were authorized, four times those in 2012.

Also, in recent years Xi'an has cultivated a number of competitive key & core technology enterprises in the fields of optoelectronics chips, people's livelihoods and health, aerospace and precision manufacturing.

An industrial cluster for advanced manufacturing has been formed, laying the foundations for high-tech research and development and the sustainable development of high-tech industries.

By the end of 2021, the total number of national high-tech enterprises in the city had reached 7,140, more than 10 times that at the end of 2012.