The city of Xi'an – capital of China's Northwest Shaanxi province – got the green light to build a comprehensive science center and additionally a scientific and technological innovation center, in the recently issued 2023 Shaanxi Provincial Government Work Report. 

As a result, Xi'an is understood to have become only the fourth place chosen to receive two such centers – after Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It's a decision widely said to reflect a gear change in its technological innovation, which is thought to have entered a new stage of high-quality development.

Xi'an is now expected to increase its efforts to promote its construction of cutting-edge platforms, its future industrial layout and to recruit and train people – combining science and technology and finance, with the creation of an innovative ecosystem.

The Silu Science City of Xi'an will be home to the two centers. 

A panoramic view of the Silu Science City in Xi'an. [Photo/WeChat account of Xi'an government]

With the science city as the core, Xi'an will promote the completion and operation of a high-precision ground-based time service system. It will accelerate the construction of advanced attosecond laser facilities and apply for the construction of national key laboratories in exciting fields.

Centering on five fields – information, life, space, energy and materials – the two centers will carry out disruptive technology research and cultivate the future industrial system.

Additionally, with the goal of attracting professionals to work in the centers, Xi’an plans to build a talent entrepreneurship platform and service carrier – for such projects as a scientists' community and an academician office.

Vision of the future: Xi'an Silu Science City will be home to the two new science centers. [Photo/WeChat account of Xi'an government]