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        (1)外文名称: Xi'an City
       (2)中文名称: 西安市
       (3)内容: Xi'an City

   Xi'an, which was named "Chang'an" in ancient times, is the most famous six ancient capitals of China and one of the world's four most famous ancient capitals. It has a history of 3,058 years since King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty, who built his capital here before the Christian era. After that, monarchs of 14 dynasties chose the city as their capitals, with a total history of 1,100 years. Though it lost its capital status after the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) as China's political and economic power moved eastward, the city still remained an important military base in western China. The current name "Xi'an" has been used as of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644), and the existing Wall of Xi'an City was also built in the Ming Dynasty. As the departure point for the famous Silk Road, Xi'an has been in the forefront of economic and cultural exchanges between China and other countries for centuries.
   Xi'an City is located at the center of the inland Guanzhong Basin, with Jingwei to the north, Qinling to the south, Weihua to the east and Xianyang to the west. It has eight districts and five counties under its jurisdiction, covering a total area of 9,983 sq km, including an urban area of 162 sq km. At the northern foot of Qinling, a mountain chain, is a natural reserve and scenic zone of the city.
   Xi'an is in the temperate zone, enjoying semi-moist monsoon and moderate rainfall. Its four seasons are clearly divided, with an average temperature of 13.3癈, a frost-free period of 207 days and an average annual rainfall of 604.2 mm.
   Xi'an has rich natural resources, such as over 1,000 kinds of forest plants, 230-plus species of birds and many species of precious wild animals like the golden monkey, panda and antelope. Its main minerals include gold, iron, copper, graphite, marble, feldspar and quartz.
   In 1984, Xi'an was approved by the State Council as a city with the provincial status in planning, becoming one of the 16 cities with the sub-provincial status.
   Now Xi'an is the largest center of science, technology, culture, sports, education, commerce, trade, finance, telecommunications, aviation and manufacturing in northwest China. It is also a well-known international tourist city.
   The manufacturing sector is the largest economic pillar of
   Xi'an. Transportation equipment manufacturing is the city's largest industry, with more than 160 enterprises and an annual output value of 1.24 billion yuan. It is based on three pillars, namely, aviation equipment, railway transportation equipment and motor vehicles. Yanliang, the aircraft town of Xi'an, is nicknamed as "Seattle of China". Pharmaceutical production is the second largest industry of the city. Its main producers include the Xi'an Janssen Pharmaceutical Co., the Xi'an Pharmaceutical Factory and the Xi'an Sanhaidan Group Company.
   The Xi'an Manufacturing Company, which makes electric machinery, is a famous manufacturer of electricity transmission and transformation equipment in China. Other major industries of Xi'an include electronics and communications equipment, special equipment, general machinery, meters and instruments, cultural and office machinery, textiles, chemicals, printing, and duplicating industry.
   The other economic pillars of the city include the sectors of wholesale, retail and catering trade; finance and insurance; the sectors of transportation, storage and postal and telecommunications; the sector of construction; the sectors of scientific research and comprehensive technological services; and the sector of social services.
   As a world-famous ancient capital, Xi'an is superior to any other city in the world in terms of ground and underground cultural and historical relics, which belong to different periods in history. It has over 300 key places for cultural relic protection, including 16 of the State class and 68 of the provincial class. It also has beautiful natural landscapes featuring famous mountains and rivers. It is unique in the world for a super-large central city in terms of both artificial scenes and natural landscapes. Plus its good geographical conditions and convenient communications, the city has very good conditions to develop tourism with its own characteristics and advantages.
   In building itself into an export-oriented city, Xi'an has opened wider to the outside world, improved its investment environment and increased the use of external capital by following the guideline of "opening to promote development." To create a good investment environment for foreign investors, it has set up the state-level Xi'an New and High-Tech Development Zone, the Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone, the Xi'an Qujiang Tourist & Vacation Zone, the Xi'an Weiyang Lake Tourist & Vacation Zone, the Xi'an Baqiao Comprehensive Economic Development Zone, and the Xi'an Yanliang Economic Development Zone.