Back in the top 20! Is the top city in Northwest China about to stage a comeback?

The GDP data of various regions in 2025 have been gradually announced.

Among the much - watched trillion - level cities, the ranking change of one city is particularly symbolic. This is Xi'an, the "No.1 city in Northwest China" — its GDP ranking has jumped to the 20th place in the country.

This achievement is eye - catching because the last time Xi'an made it into the top 20 cities in the country in terms of GDP dates back to 1980.

Returning to this position after 45 years is a milestone moment, not only for Xi'an itself but also for the development pattern of western cities.

Is Xi'an really going to stage a comeback?

01

First of all, it should be noted that there are different views on the statement that Xi'an "returned to the top 20 in the country after 45 years" in 2025.

As early as the first three quarters of 2018, Xi'an's GDP once ranked 20th in the country, which was then interpreted as "returning to the top 20 after 38 years." However, in the fourth quarter of the same year, Jinan completed its merger with Laiwu and squeezed Xi'an out of the top 20 in the final annual ranking.

Therefore, regarding 2025 as Xi'an's real "return to the top 20" actually has more substantial significance.

Of course, some also believe that Xi'an's ranking rise is partly due to the slowdown of the growth rate of some leading cities, which allowed Xi'an to "overtake."

From the data, Xi'an's GDP in 2025 increased by 4.7% year - on - year, which was lower than the provincial average and also below the national average. It's really not that impressive.

But anyway, facing multiple internal and external variables, it's really not easy for Xi'an to maintain the stability of its economic situation and move up in the GDP ranking.

In this regard, there's really no need to belittle oneself.

02

Moreover, from the perspective of multiple sub - indicators, the internal structure of Xi'an's economic operation is indeed undergoing positive changes.

For a long time, compared with similar cities, Xi'an's prominent shortcoming has been its industry. Not only is its scale relatively small, but it also has relatively prominent structural problems.

Among the trillion - level cities, Xi'an's added value of the secondary industry has long been at the bottom. The number of industrial enterprises above the designated size is also significantly behind that of cities with similar economic scales such as Hefei and Jinan. Even compared with ordinary prefecture - level cities like Yantai and Tangshan that have newly joined the trillion - club, it's hard to claim an advantage.

But in recent years, Xi'an has significantly accelerated its "make - up lessons" in industry. In 2025, the total output value of industrial enterprises above the designated size in Xi'an exceeded the one - trillion - yuan mark for the first time, reaching 1.06 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 6.9%, achieving a historic leap.

By category, the added value of industrial enterprises above the designated size in the city increased by 5.7% year - on - year. Among them, the mining industry increased by 6.5%, the manufacturing industry increased by 5.5%, and the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas, and water increased by 4.5%.

Among the key industries, the added value of the automobile manufacturing industry increased by 20.1%, the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry increased by 28.5%, the special equipment manufacturing industry increased by 7.6%, and the railway, ship, aerospace, and other transportation equipment manufacturing industry increased by 8.4%.

Particularly worth mentioning is the new energy vehicle industry chain. In 2025, the total output value of 9 major industrial chains including passenger cars, intelligent connected vehicles, photovoltaics, and commercial vehicles in Xi'an increased by 14.0%.

In 2022, Xi'an's new energy vehicle production exceeded one million for the first time, ranking first in the country as the "No.1 new energy vehicle city"; by 2024, its production was still second only to Shenzhen, Hefei, and Shanghai, firmly ranking fourth in the country.

In 2025, Xi'an's overall new energy vehicle production continued to rank among the top in the country.

In addition, the new - quality productivity also performed impressively. In 2025, the production of mobile communication base station equipment increased by 279.1%, civilian drones increased by 78.5%, 3D printing equipment increased by 71.3%, and charging piles increased by 43.6%...

It can be said that in the wave of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, Xi'an not only didn't fall behind but even "overtook" in some fields.

03

This change is inseparable from the attention paid to "making up for weaknesses" at the policy and strategic levels.

In 2023, Xi'an proposed to set up an industrial doubling guidance fund with a total scale of 10 billion yuan. In the same year, Xi'an clearly implemented the "Northward Expansion" strategy, aiming to build a trillion - level Weibei industrial corridor.

In 2024, Xi'an invested 66.794 billion yuan in R & D. The R & D investment intensity of the whole society reached 5.56%, ranking third in the country; in the "Top 100 Global Science and Technology Clusters in 2024", Xi'an's ranking rose to the 18th place.

At the same time, it increased the construction of industrial innovation platforms. In August last year, Xi'an released the "Implementation Plan for the Construction of Industrial Innovation Centers", clearly proposing to layout innovation platforms around 13 major industrial directions such as large aircraft, photovoltaics, semiconductors, and intelligent connected vehicles.

More importantly, more investment is shifting to the manufacturing sector.

In 2025, Xi'an's manufacturing investment increased by 4.9%, and the proportion of industrial investment in fixed - asset investment increased by 3 percentage points compared with the previous year. At the same time, the investment in the equipment manufacturing industry increased by 7.2%, the investment in high - tech manufacturing increased by 15.4%; and the investment in technological transformation of industrial enterprises increased by 21.9%.

In response to this, the balance of medium - and long - term RMB loans in the manufacturing industry increased by 23.2% year - on - year. It can be said that Xi'an is "quietly" waging a battle to turn around its industry.

Facing the 15th Five - Year Plan, Xi'an has clearly identified implementing the industrial doubling plan and building a source of new - quality productivity as strategic key tasks. As long as it maintains its determination and continues to promote, it should still have a good chance of maintaining its position in the top 20 in the country.

It's worth noting that the national 15th Five - Year Plan proposal clearly states: Maintain a reasonable proportion of the manufacturing industry and build a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as the backbone.

Xi'an's acceleration in making up for its industrial weaknesses at this time also resonates with the national strategy.

04

Objectively speaking, the overall scale of Xi'an's manufacturing industry still needs to be expanded. This is a fact.

But from another perspective, precisely because the previous base was relatively low, if a substantial breakthrough can be made in this key shortcoming, it can bring significant changes to the overall situation.

In the past, Xi'an may have indeed had some regrets in the face of certain historical opportunities. A typical example is the merger of Xi'an and Xianyang, which has still bothered many Xi'an people to this day.

However, under the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, as the fourth "dual - center" city in the country and the "national important scientific research and cultural and educational center", Xi'an's strategic opportunity period is far from over.

Moreover, in the new round of national functional layout, Xi'an has been clearly given a new positioning of "three centers and two bases" — the economic center in the west, the scientific and technological innovation center, the center for external exchanges, the advanced manufacturing base, and the international tourism destination.

It can be said that Xi'an has far more strategic chips than imagined. By steadily turning these chips into sustainable development momentum, it is believed that Xi'an can definitely regain its "lost" position.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Western City Affairs", author: Western Jun. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.