Impressive economic development in Xi'an High-tech Zone in H1

In the first half of 2023, Xi'an High-tech Zone, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, achieved a GDP of 161.472 billion yuan ($22.48 billion), representing a year-on-year growth of 8.4%. Its economic scale accounted for 10.4% of the province and 28.8% of the city.

Growth in automotive manufacturing output surges by 48.6%

In the first half of this year, Xi'an High-tech Zone's advanced manufacturing industry maintained a steady growth. The total output value of the five pillar industries -- including automobile, electronic information, intelligent manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals, and new energy materials -- reached 174.34 billion yuan, a growth of 19.8%, accounting for 50.4% of the city's total. The added value of large-scale industries achieved a growth rate of 20.7%, surpassing the city average by 11.7 percentage points. The total industrial output value and industrial investment of large-scale industries increased by 18.1% and 11.2% respectively compared to the same period, accounting for 43.8% and 37.5% of the city's total. The economic efficiency has improved, and high-quality development has reached a new level.

One notable development is that in the first half of the year, the output value of the automobile manufacturing industry in the high-tech zone increased by 48.6%. The production of new energy vehicles reached 368,500 units, with a year-on-year growth of 23%, gradually becoming the core engine of the regional industry.

From January to May, the revenue of the large-scale service enterprises in Xi'an High-tech Zone reached 51.012 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%, indicating a recovery in the research and development service industry. Among them, the revenue of scientific research and technical services industry increased by 20.9%, with a growth rate 7.8 percentage points higher than the same period last year, which is 17.5 percentage points higher than the growth rate of large-scale service industry revenue. The industry accounts for 20.5% of the total revenue.

In addition, the financial services industry played a strong role in driving the GDP growth in the first half of the year. During this period, Xi'an High-tech Zone introduced four regional headquarters of financial institutions, and the value added of the financial industry increased by 8% year-on-year, contributing approximately 1 percentage point to the GDP growth, with a contribution rate of 12% to the GDP, accounting for a high proportion of 12.2%.

Average investment per mu reaches 10.24 million yuan in key ongoing projects

Since the beginning of this year, Xi'an High-tech Zone has focused on advantageous and emerging industries, and has promoted the growth of a modern industrial system. The industrial chain has continuously moved towards the high end, and the momentum for high-quality development is strong.

According to data, in 2023, there are a total of 494 key projects under construction in Xi'an High-tech Zone. Among them  are 157 industrial projects (including five projects with an investment of over 10 billion yuan), accounting for more than 40% of the total investment. There are 49 projects included in the provincial key projects list, with a total investment of about 180 billion yuan. The annual planned investment is 43.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28%. There are 166 projects listed as municipal key projects, with a total investment of 482.4 billion yuan. The annual planned investment is 94.9 billion yuan, accounting for 19% of the total investment in the city.

Worth mentioning is that among the 494 key ongoing projects this year, private investment accounts for over 30% in terms of proportion and over 40% in terms of project quantity. At the same time, the average investment per mu (a unit of land area, approximately 0.067 hectares) reaches 10.24 million yuan, and the per mu GDP of the built-up area reaches 2.18 million yuan, with continuously improving per mu efficiency. 

Technology contract transactions reach 72 billion yuan

In the first half of the year, the scale of science and technology innovation entities in Xi'an High-tech Zone continued to expand. There were 456 high-tech enterprises sent for review and 400 reserve enterprises. A total of 3,383 companies were promoted to participate in the evaluation of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, with the proportion of high-tech enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises applying for evaluation in the city exceeding 40%. In terms of enterprise listing, three companies -- namely Xintong Pharma, ActionPower, and Xi'an Wonder Energy Chemical -- went public, and there were 195 reserve enterprises preparing for listing.

The zone has achieved a total transaction volume of 72 billion yuan in technology contracts, and a series of scientific, and technological achievements have emerged. The nationally recognized "SLM matching thoracolumbar artificial vertebral body," jointly developed by Wedo (Xian) Bio-Medical Technology, has officially obtained market approval. The amphibious bipedal and multi-mode walking and flying bionic robot developed by Beidou Jinjian won the "International Unmanned System Design Award" at the 7th World UAV Conference. Currently, the zone has won a total of 35 national science and technology awards and possesses nearly 40 international standards with global influence. The number of national standards and industry standards has exceeded 800.

The talent resources in the zone have surpassed 900,000, with a total of 143 national-level talents introduced and nurtured, 146 provincial-level talents, and over 50,000 municipal-level talents (including 280 high-level talents). The number of district-level high-tech talents has exceeded 10,000, and the team of scientific and technological innovation talents is steadily expanding.

Total number of market entities exceeds 200,000

In the first half of the year, Xi'an High-tech Zone made every effort to implement policies for tax refund, tax reduction, and fee reduction, accurately fulfilling them for over 4,000 market entities, with a total amount of funding exceeding 400 million yuan for their "Triple Entrepreneurship" initiatives. Additionally, more than 1,000 enterprises received a total of 162 million yuan in policy funds, while a phased reduction in social security fees and deferred payment policies, amounting to 618 million yuan, were implemented, benefiting over 30,000 businesses in the district.

Meanwhile, the zone continues to expedite the approval process for project construction, completing the approval of 36 low-risk projects under the "commitment-based approval system" and 156 medium-risk projects under the "acceptance with deficiencies + commitment-based approval system." The platinum power metal additive manufacturing large-scale intelligent production base project completed the land acquisition and groundbreaking within 10 days, achieving accelerated implementation of key projects in the High-tech Zone.

The zone continuously optimizes and enhances the level of government services. The processing time for work permits and residence permits for foreigners working in China has been reduced from 21 working days to five working days. Cross-regional government services have been enabled with 19 districts, counties, and development zones within the province, with a cumulative total of 6,215 cases processed.

As of July 24th, the number of new market entities in Xi'an High-tech Zone reached 14,788, surpassing the milestone of 200,000 in total market entities for the first time.