Xi'an wants to replicate Shenzhen's success and become China's next Silicon Valley, CNBC reported. 

As growing US pressure pushes Beijing to build its technology, there is a need to support technology innovators. For forty years, a special economic zone has existed in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. This has helped transform Shenzhen into a Silicon Valley counterpart with local tech giants such as Tencent and Huawei. 

Xi'an, a 4.5-hour flight north of Shenzhen, has a solid foundation to become a hub for technological innovation: research or manufacturing centers for semiconductors, aerospace, and other high-tech industries; gifted students from local universities; and significant foreign investment.

Both Samsung and US-based chip maker Micron manufacture their products in Xi'an, which became China's fastest-growing city last year. The country's urgent need for self-sufficiency in technology is central to the government's five-year development plan, with ambitious technology research and development targets. Xi'an Mayor Li Mingyuan said last month that technological innovation is at the top of his list of high-quality developments in Beijing's five-year plan.

He also noted that Xi'an intends to reach over 1 trillion yuan ($ 153.85 billion) in production by 2025 and support more than 10,000 high-tech enterprises with a total GDP of over 1.4 trillion yuan. That's roughly 40% of Xi'an's GDP growth in 2020.

In describing Xi'an's pursuit of technological innovation, Mayor Li pointed to the contributions of the city's non-state and foreign enterprises. He noted that local solar company Longi Green Energy Technology became the largest publicly traded company in Western China last year and said it is the world's largest single crystal silicon wafer manufacturer.

Li added that Micron has invested a total of $ 1 billion in its Xi'an facility, which accounts for 90% of the company's global manufacturing capacity. Shenzhen is “also enjoying (a) high degree of policy freedom that no other city in China has,” Wong said, noting Xi’an would need to think creatively to mimic that kind of growth. “You cannot make a duplication of Shenzhen.”