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Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
XI'AN, March 1 (Xinhua) — The Chinese city of Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, known as the historic starting point of the Great Silk Road, has decided to focus in 2026 on building a high-quality economic ring by strengthening the development of international China-Europe/Central Asia rail freight transport. This was announced at the 7th session of the 17th People's Congress of the city, which opened on Friday.
To achieve this goal, a new package of initiatives will be developed and implemented to promote the high-quality development of China-Europe international rail freight transport routes from Xi'an, including enhancing the interconnectivity of customs, railway, and port data systems, expanding the sharing of this data, and further unlocking Xi'an's development opportunities through its status as a participating city in China's New Western Land-Sea Corridor.
As reported at the annual session, Xi'an achieved a number of impressive achievements last year, allowing the city to confidently move toward the construction of the aforementioned economic ring: the efficiency of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TCITR) was increased through coordinated efforts with the governments, railways, and port authorities of countries located along the TCITR; a logistics center for Kazakhstan was built and commissioned at the Xi'an dry port as part of a joint China-Kazakhstan project; and the first special "China-Central Asia" tourist train was launched from the city.
Xi'an's achievements in this area are also reflected in statistical data. In 2025, Xi'an recorded 6,037 China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight train departures, a 21.1 percent increase year-on-year. Last year, the city's total import and export volume reached 498.79 billion yuan (approximately $72 billion), a 21.1 percent increase year-on-year, with exports of the "new three" commodities in China's foreign trade structure (electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar panels) and integrated circuits increasing by 31.4 and 30.1 percent, respectively. Against this backdrop, Xi'an's export growth rates to the five Central Asian countries and ASEAN countries amounted to 19.8 and 21.8 percent, respectively.
The session also announced a plan for Xi'an to deepen institutional and mechanical reforms this year in relation to pilot free trade zones, comprehensive bonded areas, and comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones. The creation of a national demonstration zone for innovative development of trade in services is also planned.
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