Northwest China's Top City Launches Desperate Battle Aiming for 2 Trillion

How much chance of success is there in the "big bet" of the manufacturing industry?

After presenting a less - than - ideal latest economic report card, the top city in Northwest China is accelerating the pace of industrial transformation. On May 11th, the official website of the Xi'an Municipal Government intensively released seven new industrial policies, covering areas such as commercial vehicles, energy (oil and gas), semiconductors and photonics, power transmission and distribution, intelligent connected new energy vehicles, new materials, and biomedicine. Currently, Xi'an is experiencing a "polarizing" situation. In the wave of computing power infrastructure construction, as the world's largest flash memory chip production base, Xi'an has emerged as the "biggest dark horse" in foreign trade; the stock price of local optical chip company Yuanjie Technology soared, once replacing Kweichow Moutai as the "new king of A - share stocks". The economic data for the first quarter released not long ago poured cold water on Xi'an - the GDP growth rate was only 1.1%, ranking second from the bottom among the 29 cities with a GDP of over one trillion yuan, and the added value of the automobile manufacturing industry decreased by 11.2% year - on - year. The Outline of the 15th Five - Year Plan of Xi'an previously stated frankly that "the effective improvement in quality is restricted by the structural contradiction that the new kinetic energy is difficult to play a leading role in the short term, and the reasonable growth in quantity is easily affected by the gradual weakening of the driving force of the existing pillar industries." According to the latest plan, by 2030, Xi'an aims to exceed 1.5 trillion yuan in the total output value of the manufacturing industry, which means climbing a step of 100 billion yuan every year on the basis of last year. How likely is Xi'an to win this "big bet" on the manufacturing industry? < h2 > 01 < / h2 > < h2 > Intensive Actions < / h2 > Since May, the top leaders of Xi'an's Party and government have intensively conducted research in Chang'an District and the Economic Development Zone on key development areas and industrial parks, emphasizing the need to strengthen the positioning of the main battlefield for economic development, build a diversified investment and development platform with the development and construction of key areas as the carrier, promote intensive development by revitalizing the stock to drive the increment, and improve the efficiency of resource integration and utilization by deepening the reform of integrating the district and the government. These areas are the main carriers of advanced manufacturing industries such as aerospace and automobiles in Xi'an. < img data - img - size - val = "1,1" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20260515/v2_87784526cdd74f138fe26ec3eaf1053a@5091053_oswg141845oswg1080oswg719_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > Image source: Photographic Network_501395393 On May 11th, the official website of the Xi'an Municipal Government also released seven special policies, including the Implementation Plan for Promoting the High - quality Development of the Commercial Vehicle Industry Chain in Xi'an, the Implementation Plan for Promoting the High - quality Development of the Semiconductor and Photonics Industry in Xi'an, and the Implementation Plan for Promoting the High - quality Development of the Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry Chain in Xi'an, all targeting the year 2030 - Strive to build Xi'an into a first - class commercial vehicle production and R & D base in China; The output value of the energy (oil and gas) industry cluster in the city will reach 100 billion yuan, and an energy (oil and gas) industry cluster with national influence will be built; The semiconductor and photonics industry aims to form a complete industrial chain of "design - led, manufacturing - dominated, packaging and testing - supported, and key materials and equipment - matched"; Strive to build an innovation source and a core - competitive industrial high - ground for power transmission and distribution equipment in China; Strive to build Xi'an into a first - class intelligent connected new energy vehicle production, R & D, and application base in China; Build Xi'an into a national new materials industry base and innovation high - ground with leading technology and distinct characteristics... From "having national influence" and "leading in China" to "first - class in China" and "innovation high - ground", Xi'an's ambition to revitalize the manufacturing industry is evident. To this end, Xi'an needs to fully leverage its comparative advantages in the field of advanced manufacturing, make efforts in terms of industrial output value, technological breakthroughs, and enterprise echelons to enhance the competitiveness of industrial clusters. It's hard to say that this is not a "precise strike" by Xi'an. In the first quarter of this year, Xi'an's GDP was 327.022 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 1.1%. This growth rate is only higher than that of Foshan among the 29 trillion - yuan cities in the country, ranking at the bottom among the top 20 cities. The sharp decline in industrial growth is the primary reason for dragging down economic growth. In the first quarter of this year, the growth rate of the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size in Xi'an decreased by 4.7% year - on - year, and the growth rate of industrial investment decreased by 19.1%. The situation of stabilizing growth is severe. Looking at the long - term, the weak industrial foundation has always been a shortcoming of Xi'an. The Xi'an 14th Five - Year Plan for Industrial Development once stated frankly that Xi'an has "a relatively small industrial scale, and its industry is neither large nor strong", with an obvious gap compared with cities of the same category. To reverse this situation, Xi'an has clearly proposed to implement a new round of industrial doubling plan to improve the quality and proportion of the manufacturing industry. According to the deployment of the Outline of the 15th Five - Year Plan of Xi'an, it is necessary to develop key industrial chains of the manufacturing industry with "one - chain, one - policy", strengthen the industrial chains of group development, strive to build a trillion - level advanced manufacturing cluster, accelerate the promotion of national - level advanced manufacturing clusters such as the Xi'an aerospace cluster to the world - class level, promote the construction of national - level advanced manufacturing clusters in semiconductors and photonics, new energy vehicles, etc., promote the industry to move towards the middle and high - end, and enhance the resilience and security level of the industrial chain and supply chain. < h2 > 02 < / h2 > < h2 > Concerns about Structure < / h2 > In the past few years, there have been many highlights in Xi'an's industrial development. < img data - img - size - val = "1,1" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20260515/v2_87d28bf56b7e4d8081172647a1dc0221@5091053_oswg160525oswg1080oswg721_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > Image source: Photographic Network_501622880 In 2022, the production of new energy vehicles in Xi'an exceeded one million for the first time, making it the top city in new energy vehicle production in China, and also helping Xi'an achieve a total industrial output value of over one trillion yuan (1.06 trillion yuan) for industrial enterprises above designated size in 2025. This rapid leap is due to Xi'an's development model of "leading enterprises + industrial chains" - Leading enterprises such as BYD, Geely, and Shaanxi Automobile lead the parallel development of the new energy passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle heavy - truck chains; Changqing Oilfield leads the energy (oil and gas) industry cluster; Samsung, Micron, Zhongke Weijing, etc. drive the semiconductor and photonics industry; China XD Group drives the power transmission and distribution equipment industry... It is these industrial supports that have made Xi'an well - known in the emerging industry track. However, the shortcomings are also obvious. In the initial stage of industrial development, it tests the market sense and comparative advantages; when the industrial competition enters the "second half", hidden concerns emerge - the improvement of the industrial ecosystem restricts the explosion of industrial scale and the improvement of overall competitiveness. For example, affected by factors such as the industry cycle, the production of automobiles in Shaanxi dropped by 50% in the first quarter of this year, and the added value of the automobile manufacturing industry in Xi'an decreased by 11.2%, which also exposed the risk of relying on a single leading enterprise. As Xi'an put it, "the effective improvement in quality is restricted by the structural contradiction that the new kinetic energy is difficult to play a leading role in the short term, and the reasonable growth in quantity is easily affected by the gradual weakening of the driving force of the existing pillar industries." Looking closely at the above - mentioned seven plans, the expansion of industrial scale, the improvement of parts and components supporting, and the industrial ecosystem are almost all emphasized. Take the automobile industry as an example. As a pillar industry accounting for more than 1/4 of Xi'an's industrial output value, Xi'an proposes to build a first - class intelligent connected new energy vehicle production, R & D, and application base in China by 2030 - The production of intelligent connected new energy vehicles in the city will exceed 1.55 million, ranking among the top in the country; the output value of the power battery industry in the city will reach 40 billion yuan, ranking among the top in the industry; the output value of traditional parts and components in the city will exceed 35 billion yuan; the output value of new - type parts and components in the city will exceed 18 billion yuan... To achieve these goals, it is necessary to dig deep into the potential of complete vehicles, improve the supporting scale, strengthen technological innovation, and improve the industrial ecosystem, fully demonstrating Xi'an's determination to leap forward in the intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry. During the 14th Five - Year Plan period, Xi'an built five industrial clusters worth over 100 billion yuan, such as the automobile and electronic information industries. Entering the 15th Five - Year Plan, Xi'an will further promote the scale leap of emerging pillar industries such as intelligent connected new energy vehicles, semiconductors and photonics, and new energy, and strengthen emerging leading industries such as new materials, biomedicine, aerospace, intelligent terminals, and spatio - temporal information, supporting the proportion of the added value of Xi'an's manufacturing industry in GDP to reach 20% in 2030 - an increase of 1.87 percentage points compared with 2025. As an emerging pillar industry, the scale of Xi'an's intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry will exceed 310 billion yuan, the scale of the semiconductor and photonics industry will exceed 280 billion yuan, the scale of the new energy industry will exceed 160 billion yuan, and the scale of the aerospace industry is expected to exceed 130 billion yuan. This also means that the next five years will be the "decisive period" for Xi'an's manufacturing industry. < h2 > 03 < / h2 > < h2 > Reaching for the Sky < / h2 > In urban development, if you don't move forward, you'll fall behind. < img data - img - size - val = "1,1" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20260515/v2_48f067c214cf4a6c915aa572f07d409d@5091053_oswg207535oswg1080oswg653_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > Image source: Photographic Network_501625614 The Outline of the 15th Five - Year Plan of Xi'an proposes to promote a new leap in the comprehensive strength of the national central city and improve its position in the national development pattern - It is estimated that by 2030, Xi'an's GDP will reach 1.8 trillion yuan, striving to exceed 2 trillion yuan, and the construction of the western economic center will reach a new level. In 2025, Xi'an's regional GDP was 1.390267 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 4.7%. To reach 2 trillion yuan in 2030 means that Xi'an needs to cross seven steps of 100 billion yuan in the next five years, which is obviously a goal that requires "reaching for the sky". Looking at the whole country, there is no time to hesitate if Xi'an wants to "improve its position". Currently, nine cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Wuhan have exceeded 2 trillion yuan; Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Wuxi, Changsha, and Zhengzhou are also making all - out efforts to reach this goal; in this race for the "2 - trillion - yuan club", Xi'an has to catch up. The key to success still lies in manufacturing. Currently, high - tech industries have become the key variable for the leap of the manufacturing industry. As the fourth city in China to be approved to build a comprehensive science center and a science and technology innovation center, Xi'an has significant advantages in the integration of science and industry. Whether it is the intelligent connected new energy vehicle, new energy and new materials, or the semiconductor and photonics industry, the leap of these high - tech industries cannot be achieved without the support of strong innovation ability - and this is where Xi'an's endowment and confidence lie. A specific goal is that by 2030, there will be more than 20 industrial enterprises with an output value of over 10 billion yuan in Xi'an, and the total output value of the city's manufacturing industry is expected to exceed 1.5 trillion yuan. Compared with the industrial output value that just exceeded one trillion yuan in 2025, Xi'an's manufacturing output value will cross at least five steps of 100 billion yuan, which is the key to whether Xi'an can reach the 2 - trillion - yuan mark. This leap in potential and energy level will also bring greater radiation effects. Looking at the whole country, only when the central city is strong enough can it spill over to the broader hinterland of the metropolitan area, optimize resource allocation, and complete key positioning in the national industrial map through cluster operations. From the Wuhan Metropolitan Area to the Chengdu Metropolitan Area, cluster operations in industries such as electronic information and intelligent connected vehicles are common. For the Xi'an Metropolitan Area, a long - standing issue is the integration of Xi'an and Xianyang. Xi'an and Xianyang are adjacent to each other, and the combined GDP of the two cities reaches 1.7 trillion yuan, accounting for half of Shaanxi's economy. However, for many years, the integration of Xi'an and Xianyang has progressed slowly, restricting the development of the Xi'an Metropolitan Area. In the eyes of the outside world, industry is the key to whether the integration of Xi'an and Xianyang can improve regional competitiveness. The Xi'an - Xianyang Integration Development Promotion Conference held not long ago positioned the 15th Five - Year Plan period as a major strategic opportunity period to accelerate integration development, and clearly stated that it is necessary to perform a "dual - city symphony" and create a new situation. In the future vision, the two sides should continue to promote industrial coordination and cooperation, integrate resource elements, innovate cooperation models, and jointly build industrial chains with upstream - downstream connections and cross - regional cooperation. Whether the two cities can put aside their differences and work together also

该文观点仅代表作者本人，36氪平台仅提供信息存储空间服务。

Aiming for 2 trillion, the top city in Northwest China is fighting a desperate battle.