Response to "the Belt and Road Initiative"

In 2021, Shaanxi has thoroughly implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech during his inspection of Shaanxi and created highlights in several fields. It has actively responded to the profound changes in its external environment, coordinated Covid-19 control and the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative. Focusing on building an inland highland for reform and opening up, Shaanxi has sped up the construction of major transit routes and major platforms for opening up, and promoted the construction of five major centers of the Belt and Road Initiative in a vigorous and orderly manner.

The China-Europe Railway Express Amounting to over 10,000 Trips

The China-Europe Railway Express (Xi'an) marked 3,841 trips in 2021, transporting 2.873 million tons of goods. The total number of trips has reached 11,415, and the core indicators held the leading position in the country. China Railway Express has conducted the first trial run for Japan-South Korea transit cargo train services, and a special train for cross-border e-commerce was operated on a regular basis. The number of international trunk lines added up to 16, and the number of "+ Western Europe" assembly lines reached 15. Shaanxi has worked hard to promote the integration of port areas, and set up Xi'an International Port Station, with the overall loading and unloading capacity rising by 30%. The Digital Financial Service Platform of China Railway "Express Chang'an" was launched with the new business model of"Railway Inbound and Outbound Rapid Customs Clearance". The overall customs clearance time was shortened by 50%.

Speeding up the Construction the Silk Road in the Air

The Moscow-Xi'an-Almaty 5th-freedom cargo route was launched, amounting to 3 routes. Northwest International Cargo was officially put into operation with 38 all-cargo routes, and the cargo and mail throughput totaled 395,600 tons, ranking 9th among China's airports. It has accommodated 243 international diverted flights and 28,600 inbound passengers. The Shaanxi Airport-type National Logistics Hub has been approved, and the airport economic output exceeded 12 billion yuan.

SCO Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training Demonstration Base Officially Opened

The "Proposal" for establishing the SCO Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training Demonstration Base was reviewed and approved by the 6th Meeting of the Agriculture Ministers of SCO member states. The demonstration base has become the first agricultural exchange and cooperation platform among SCO member states with the principle of "Wide Consultation, Joint Contribution and Shared Benefits", which was listed by the Dushanbe Summit as one of the important achievements of agricultural cooperation in the past 20 years. 2 overseas agricultural technology training bases in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were officially launched, and the agriculture-related university alliance in SCO member states was established. It has also launched the SCO Modern Agriculture Exchange Center, by which 8 sessions of the foreign-aid training program for SCO member states were organized and 9 online lectures were held.

Successful Hosting the 2nd"China + Central Asia" (C + C5) Foreign Ministers' Meeting

The 2nd "China + Central Asia" (C+C5) Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Xi'an, which was also the first multilateral foreign ministers' meeting hosted by China since the outbreak of the pandemic. The meeting has reached a wide range of consensuses and achievements concerning 6 Shaanxi-related issues such as the establishment of Silk Road Archaeology Cooperation Research Center, the China-Central Asia Agricultural Cooperation Center, the Traditional Medicine Center, the Poverty Alleviation and Farming Program, the Education and Training Program, and the Comprehensive Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Park. "The Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on China-Central Asia Human and Environment" of Northwest University was approved as the third batch of national Belt and Road joint laboratories.

Active Promotion of the Soft Connectivity of the Belt and Road International Rules and Standards

The Belt and Road National Metrology and Testing Research Center (Shaanxi) was officially launched in Xi'an, becoming the first national metrology research institution to serve the Belt and Road Initiative. It also held the Belt and Road International Transport Symposium, during which the research project "Co-constructing the Belt and Road National Automobile Industry Carbon Emission Standard" was launched. In line with international trade rules, Xi'an was listed as the Chinese case area for the 3rd round of China-EU regional policy cooperation.

China (Shaanxi) Joint Working Group to Tajikistan Conferred International Contribution Award

Shaanxi took the initiative in conducting international medical and healthcare assistance. China (Shaanxi) Joint Working Group to Tajikistan from Shaanxi successfully finished the cooperation task against Covid-19, which won widespread praise from the Tajikistan government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, and was conferred International Friendship Contribution Award. 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of Shaanxi's medical teams sent abroad, adding up to 50 times of sending medical teams to Sudan, Malawi, and Vanuatu, treating 8.368 million patients.

Successful Integration of RMB SilkRoad Platform into CIPS

The financial service system in the open sectors was further perfected. RMB SilkRoad Cross Border E-commerce RMB Settlement Service Platform was successfully integrated into CIPS Standard Transceiver, making it the first e-commerce platform to do so in Northwestern China. Innovative products such as "China-Europe Railway Express Loan" and"Waybill Financing" of Free Trade Port Commercial Tickets were launched, and a "white list" of cross-border RMB high-quality enterprises was established. With the efforts exerted in increasing the number and coverage of trade and foreign exchange revenue and expenditure trials, 4 banks and 11 enterprises in Shaanxi Province have joined the trial by the end of last December, with a processing amount of US $5.944 billion.

Foreign Economic and Trade Cooperation Continuing Promoting High-quality Development

The 2021 The Silk Road E-commerce Cooperation Roundtable Conference (Xi'an) was successfully held. Representatives of embassies, consulates and official institutions in China from Austria and other 20 countries and regions were invited to attend the conference focusing on topics of effective use of the logistics channel of the China-Europe Railway"Express Chang'an" in the field of cross-border e-commerce, and multilateral international cooperation and talent training in this field. During the conference, The Three-year Development Action Plan of the China-Europe Railway Express Chang 'an Cross-border E-commerce Assembly Center was issued. The total export and import volume to countries and regions of the Belt and Road Initiative increased by 28.2% and the investment increased by 26.4% on a year-on-year base.