Xixian New Area eyes opportunities, bolsters high-quality development

Industrial innovation has become a key driving force for economic growth in Xixian New Area, a national-level new area in Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

Approved by the State Council in 2014, the area has Fengdong, Fengxi, Qinhan, Konggang, Jinghe and the Nengyuan Jinmao subareas under its jurisdiction. With a total planning area of 882 square kilometers, it has a population of 1.3 million.

Located in the new axis of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi, it was hailed as the first national new area to explore an innovative urban development pattern in the province and a key force to drive the province's innovation, local officials said.

From the new area, it only takes 30 minutes by car to arrive at Xi'an's metropolitan circle and just two hours by plane to reach almost 80 percent of the major economic clusters around the country. The main cities of the country can be reached within five hours by high-speed railway.

The new area has also gathered a good number of tourism and entertainment resources, such as the Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, the Xi'an International Football Center and the Jinghe New Town Sports Center.

Seven local rivers, including the Weihe, Jinghe and Fenghe, have been attracting tourists with their clean water and banks rich in plant life. Kunming Lake, Fenghe Golden Bay, Happy Valley, Qixi Park, Shijingli tourism town, Lewa city holiday resort and Fu Cha Town are among the must-see spots for the younger generation.

The Western China Science and Technology Innovation Harbour, which completed construction in 2019, owns China's first university and smart town without defined geographic boundaries. Aoxiang Town, run by Northwestern Polytechnical University, has accelerated moves to build itself into the first industrial cluster for intelligent unmanned systems in China.

Cooperating with Xi'an Jiaotong University and other well-known colleges and universities, the area implements its talent introduction policies, which have been designed to cultivate high-quality enterprises, high-tech research achievement incubators and industrial clusters.

In the first half of this year, 534 technology-driven enterprises were launched in the area, 2.35 times that of the same period in 2021. A total of 155 enterprises commercialized their scientific and technological achievements and launched related products in the market, 2.28 times that of the same period in 2021.

The world-leading solar photovoltaic enterprise LONGi Green Energy Technology launched its production base in Jinghe New City of Xixian New Area with a total investment of 26.1 billion yuan ($3.6 billion). This was followed by a Skyworth electronics project, with an investment of 10 billion yuan, and Sany Group's intelligent manufacturing center, with a total investment of 6.5 billion yuan.

In the first half of 2022, the area's fixed asset investment reached 130.5 billion yuan, accounting for about 30 percent of the city. A total of 105.4 billion yuan was invested in the new area's 530 key projects.

The total industrial output value reached 22.8 billion yuan, up 11.2 percent year-on-year. Fiscal revenue reached 6.4 billion yuan, up 20.6 percent year-on-year.

The total number of market entities exceeded 500,000, ranking second among new areas in the province. The area has introduced domestic capital of 123.8 billion yuan and foreign capital of $639 million.

At present, Xixian New Area is striving to integrate into the Axis Headquarters Economic Belt and is constructing 10 characteristic industrial parks. These include the Jinghe Photovoltaic Industrial Park and Fengxi Digital Economy Industrial Park.

With the aim to achieve more practical cooperation with major financial institutions and enterprises, it is making every effort to contribute to the high-quality development of Shaanxi, officials said.