The wind blows on the Wei River and the tide moves on the Qinling Mountains. When the scent of cinnamon in September passes through the ancient city wall, Xi'an will once again become the focus of the world - the 2025 Eurasian Economic Forum with the theme of "Gathering new momentum of Eurasia to build a new pattern of sustainable development" will grandly kick off in this thousand-year-old capital as scheduled.

More than 2,100 years ago, the Han envoy Zhang Qian came out from Chang'an, and the sound of camel bells was heard in the Western Regions;

20 years ago, the first Eurasian Economic Forum was "born" here, making China Xi'an a permanent meeting for dialogue between Eurasian countries;

In early summer 2023, the "China-Central Asia Summit Xi'an Declaration" was signed here to draw a new blueprint for common development.

Now, this thousand-year-old capital is once again ready to welcome the new forum with an open attitude.

Twenty years of hard work to build a dream

From local platforms to national strategic fulcrum

The first Eurasian Economic Forum in 2005

In 2005, Xi'an seized the opportunity with a clear vision and actively won the hosting rights of the first Eurasian Economic Forum. From then on, this ancient city has formed an indissoluble bond with this international event. Twenty years of spring and autumn fruits, the Forum grew up with Xi'an.

Xi'an becomes the permanent site of the Eurasian Economic Forum

In 2007, the State Council approved the holding of the Eurasian Economic Forum in Xi'an, Shaanxi every two years, laying the foundation for the forum to achieve institutionalized development.

At the second forum in 2007, the "Xi'an Consensus" signed by all participating countries is recognized as a milestone in pragmatic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Forum. At the third forum in 2009, the customs and business representatives from Eurasian countries attended the meeting jointly signed the "Initiative for Promoting Trade Security and Facilitation of Xi'an". The 4th Forum in 2011 released the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization Development Report" and "Chinese Enterprises Eurasian Countries Investment Report". In July 2013, the Eurasian Economic Forum Organizing Committee was established in Beijing. At the 5th Forum in 2013, guests from all countries at the meeting exchanged in-depth exchanges on the initiative of "Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt" and built consensus on cooperation.

In 2015, the forum ushered in an important leap - it was officially included in the top ten platforms for the country to promote the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

In 2017, the forum further clarified the purpose of "relying on the SCO, serving the 'Belt and Road' and promoting local development."

In 2019, "high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road" became the strongest voice of the forum.

In 2021, the forum will be comprehensively improved in content design, guest invitation, and conference format.

2023 10th Eurasian Economic Forum

The 10th Eurasian Economic Forum in 2023 has fully focused on implementing the results list of China-Central Asia Summit, and has made a series of new progress in improving the level of regional cooperation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and serving Shaanxi and Xi'an to deeply integrate into the "Belt and Road" pattern, forming a number of new achievements...

2023 Eurasian Economic Forum Think Tank Branch

Walking together with the road, the platform leaps. Every step of growth in the forum is deeply imprinted with the mission of serving national strategies and promoting regional development. Over the past 20 years, the forums have attracted tens of thousands of representatives from the political, business and academic circles from more than 70 countries and regions around the world, signed more than 200 cooperation agreements and memorandums, and promoted the implementation of major projects in the fields of energy, finance, transportation, humanities, etc., with a capital scale of more than 100 billion yuan.

Photo by Wang Jian, reporter of Xi'an Olympic Sports Center

The forum coexisted and prospered with Xi'an. Nowadays, modern exhibition facilities such as Xi'an International Convention and Exhibition Center, Xi'an International Convention Center, and Olympic Sports Center "one event, two halls" have emerged, and the subway line runs through the core area of ​​the exhibition. The third phase expansion project of Xi'an Xianyang International Airport has been put into operation one after another, and the 240-hour transit visa-free policy is implemented...

"Hold a meeting well and revitalize a city." Through repeated high-end dialogues and practical cooperation, Xi'an has completed a firm progress from the inland hinterland to the open frontier with its vigorous and powerful development pace.

Focus on development and create a future together

A new chapter of Eurasian cooperation under the new pattern

The 2025 Eurasian Economic Forum is co-organized by the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat, the National Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Good-Neighborly Friendly Cooperation Committee and the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, and hosted by the Xi'an Municipal People's Government.

The reporter learned from the secretariat of the Eurasian Economic Forum that this forum will innovatively adopt the "1 5 3 1" framework to spread the long scroll of cooperation.

An opening ceremony and plenary conference will bring together high-level representatives of key countries, international institutions such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, the "Belt and Road" co-construction countries, the China-Central Asia Mechanism Secretariat, the United Nations Economic and Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific, as well as senior executives of the Fortune 500 companies, experts and scholars in the economic field, and conduct high-end exchanges and dialogues on hot topics such as green energy, commercial law, land port and logistics hubs, and human resources development.

The five theme sectors - capacity cooperation, rule co-construction, humanities integration, scientific and technological innovation, and collaborative governance - have 13 parallel branches, including the "SCO National Geological Cooperation and Mining Investment Seminar", "China Land-Port and Logistics Hub Development Conference" and other activities focus on capacity cooperation, as well as a series of activities such as "SCO National Economic and Trade Exchange" and "European Economic Forum Cultural Exchange" to let civilizations learn from each other.

The three series of activities are completed in the meeting period: the SCO national economic and trade exchange series focuses on foreign trade, China-Europe freight train, national time-honored brands, commercial services, tourism and food culture themes to enhance the image of Xi'an's international city and promote industrial trade exchanges and cooperation in multiple fields; the cultural exchange series includes the drama "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an", the acrobatic ballet "Swan Lake", China's first large-scale on-site concept performance "Borderless Chang'an", and the Xi'an International Children's Drama Exhibition, etc., with a total of 15 exhibitions and performances, resonating with the same frequency to enhance the cultural exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations in countries jointly built by the "Belt and Road"; the Eurasian Economic Observation for the Joint Construction of the "Belt and Road" will release the Eurasian Trade and Investment Prosperity Index for the first time, providing a "barometer" for decision-making among countries.

A think tank alliance was established simultaneously: The Eurasian Economic Forum Think Tank Conference was established during the Eurasian Economic Forum. A think tank alliance composed of well-known universities such as Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an University of Technology, Northwestern University and relevant research institutions at home and abroad created an ideological feast that "never ended".

Overall, the topics of this forum will be more focused, the content setting and conference hosting mechanism will be more innovative, and the degree of internationalization will be further improved, demonstrating the clear positioning of "high-end, distinctive, and pragmatic".

Vibrant Ancient City Opportunity City

Modern Xi'an dress up for guests

From the blue waves of the Ba River to the green Qinling Mountains, Xi'an has arranged the entire city into an exhibition hall to welcome the world.

Photo by Wang Jian, reporter of Xi'an International Convention and Exhibition Center

Xi'an International Convention and Exhibition Center can undertake multiple needs such as top international summits, professional exhibitions, and annual meetings of 10,000 people, providing a world-class stage for economic and trade exchanges and cultural exchanges between countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" Belt and Road. In 2024, the annual exhibition area of ​​Xi'an International Convention and Exhibition Center reached 2.108 million square meters, once again breaking the annual exhibition area record of the Northwest Exhibition Hall.

"Water dance light and shadow show" in Yanta North Square Photo by reporter Li Ming

As night falls, the Olympic Sports Center's "one show, two halls" are filled with light, and the water dance, light and shadow in the North Square of Big Wild Goose Pagoda resonates with the thousand-year-old music; the airport line of Metro Line 14 realizes "zero transfer for air-rail", which is convenient to reach the core area of ​​the exhibition; the visa-free policy of transit allows guests around the world to easily achieve "just say it".

The fertile industrial soil is also full of enthusiasm and opportunities - the entire chain of the aerospace industry has coordinated to strengthen the industrial clusters and accumulate momentum; the "Qin Chuangyuan" innovation ecosystem has accelerated its expansion, catalyzing the booming emergence of scientific and technological innovation achievements; in the high-tech zone, the construction of industrial clusters such as electronic information and new energy vehicles is in full swing, technology converging and production capacity is rising; a number of major projects in the Economic and Technological Development Zone have grown like mushrooms after a rain, and modern factories have emerged; with the leading advantages of the China-Europe Express, Xi'an International Port continues to expand the open channels, and the integration of Hong Kong-production and port trade has injected strong momentum into high-quality development...

Data shows that in the first half of 2025, Xi'an's total import and export value to countries jointly built the "Belt and Road" reached 124.34 billion yuan, accounting for 54.1% of the total import and export volume.

Photo by Dou Yiming, reporter of the China-Europe Express Xi'an Assembly Center

The total number of China-Europe Express (Xi'an) has exceeded 30,000, and the total number of China-Europe Express has exceeded one-quarter of the total number of China-Europe Express has been launched nationwide. Xi'an International Port Station has also become the first station in the country to have a traffic volume of more than 30,000 trains. It ranks first in the country in terms of core indicators such as operation volume, freight volume, and heavy container rate, injecting strong momentum into serving the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

As one of the fruitful results of the first China-Central Asia Summit, China Xi'an Kazakhstan Terminal was completed and put into operation at Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an International Port in February 2024. As of the end of May this year, the cumulative collection and transfer of goods has exceeded 180,000 tons, which has greatly improved the assembly and distribution capacity of goods between China and Kazakhstan, providing strong guarantees for import, export and transit goods.

Photo by Wang Jian, a reporter from T5 terminal

The energy level of the airport hub has also been continuously leaping. At present, Xi'an Xianyang International Airport has connected 34 waypoints to 19 countries jointly built the "Belt and Road" and achieved full coverage of five countries and eight cities in Central Asia. Inbound passengers increased by 66% year-on-year in the first half of the year. Since the beginning of this year, 36,000 tons of international cargo and mail were guaranteed, an increase of 139% year-on-year...

Work together to write a new chapter

A new era chapter at the beginning of the Silk Road

When the thousand-year-old morning bell rang for the international event again, Xi'an sent a sincere invitation to the world.

Central Asian Park integrating Central Asian cultural elements and the landform characteristics of the Ba River

From the Xi'an Declaration to the Astana Declaration, from the Belt and Road Initiative to the Global Development Initiative, China's voice resonates with the Eurasian echo. As the permanent venue for the forum, Xi'an, a city engraved with the genes of the Silk Road and surging the vitality of the times, is deeply integrating the basic advantages of "hard connectivity" and the regular vitality of "soft connectivity" with the humanistic warmth of "heart connectivity", embracing the world with a more open mind.

The cultural confidence of the thousand-year-old capital is now full of vitality. This is the hub where the intersection of Eastern and Western civilizations is a fertile soil for the spirit of the Xi'an Declaration to take root. During the forum, the collision of wisdom among all parties and the deep integration of government, industry, academia and research will surely produce fruitful results in policy communication, facility connectivity, smooth trade, financial and social communication, and people-to-people.

The thousand-year-old capital joins hands again, and the Eurasian continent has a common tide. Let’s make an appointment in September and Xi’an, and in the autumn rhyme of the thousand-year-old capital, we will draw a new picture of Eurasian cooperation and write a new chapter of the “Belt and Road”!