Culture, tourism development to thrive in Xi'an

Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, recently enacted plans for culture and tourism development during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.

The plans proposed that, by 2025, the city should be home to 950 cultural enterprises above a designated size, with operating income of 100 billion yuan ($15.66 billion).

The city's total tourism revenue should amount to 500 billion yuan, and the added value of cultural tourism and related industries should account for 16 percent of the city's GDP.

In addition, the city should have 172 museums, two national cultural industry demonstration parks, and one or two national tourism resorts.

Xi'an should also establish a digital archive for the city's world cultural heritage and form a complete world cultural heritage protection and management system.

To achieve this, the city will increase government support for intangible cultural heritage protection and set up special funds for the protection of intangible cultural heritage at the city, district and county levels.

Over the five years, 23 municipal-level cultural facilities, 28 halls, and a total of 63 district-level cultural centers, libraries, art galleries and cultural centers will be built.

With the help of various leisure and tourist attractions, cultural venues and parks, Xi'an will improve the quality of urban tourism and give full play to its comprehensive functions of leisure, recreation and cultural experience.

In addition, the innovative development of emerging cultural industries empowered by science and technology will be promoted.

By the end of the 2025, the number of cultural and related industry market players in the city should reach 35,000, and the development level of cultural industries should be at the forefront of western China.