Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, was rated as the benchmark city for the internationalized business environment in 2023, according to a report released on Dec 20 at the 2023 Forum on Innovation and Development of International Business Environment in China.

The report comprehensively evaluated domestic urban business environments, focusing on six major indicators: location advantage, economic vitality, human resources, investment environment, international development, and people's livelihood security.

A magnificent city view of Xi'an. [Photo/WeChat account of Xi'an Release]

Xi'an, known as Chang'an in ancient times, was the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. It was a highly open and international metropolis thousands of years ago.

In the new era, Xi'an has integrated deeply into the overall pattern of jointly building the Belt and Road. Additionally, Xi'an Port, the country's largest inland port, has been developed with high quality. The China-Europe freight train (Xi'an) assembly center has been upgraded to a national demonstration project.

So far, the freight train has opened 17 international trunk lines, covering 45 countries and regions in the Eurasian continent, with total trips exceeding 20,000.

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

In the past three years, 2,594 policies to benefit enterprises at all levels have been collected and released, covering accelerating the development of the city's modern industrial system, supporting the construction of industrial parks, attracting foreign investment, and encouraging companies to go public.

From January to October this year, the city added 481,500 market entities, a year-on-year increase of 34.55 percent, bringing the total number to 3.16 million, a year-on-year increase of 11.24 percent.

In addition, Xi'an has implemented several innovative reform measures for the business environment regarding digital government, market competition, opening-up, and legal guarantees, with government administrative efficiency greatly improved.