A slew of 136 key projects started construction on Jan 28 in Xi'an – capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province – with a total investment of 221.8 billion yuan ($32.72 billion) and planned investment in the current year of 62.45 billion yuan.

These projects cover the major areas of innovation drives, advanced manufacturing, upgrading of traditional industries, modern service industry, social undertakings and cultural tourism, promotion of new-type urbanization, infrastructure, people's livelihoods, and environmental protection.

A rendering of one of the new projects that has just broken ground: the Weiyang District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. [Photo/Xi'an Daily]

Of these, 66 projects will each have an investment of more than 1 billion yuan and 16 projects will each have an investment of more than 3 billion yuan.

On completion, all 136 projects are projected to generate an annual output value of more than 150 billion yuan and drive more than 110,000 jobs.

They are expected to add new momentum to Xi'an's economic development.

An artist's impression of another of the projects: The Silk Road Rail Transit Industrial Park in Xi'an. [Photo/Xi'an Daily]