Shaanxi Unveils 15th Five-Year Plan for Xi'an Metropolitan Area, Targets 75% One-Hour Commute Coverage by 2030

The Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission on July 28 issued the Implementation Plan for the Xi'an Metropolitan Area during the 15th Five-Year Plan Period. The plan sets a target for 2030: the coverage rate of the population with one-hour commuting conditions will reach about 75%, and the intensity of social R&D expenditure will be about 4.5%.

The Xi'an metropolitan area is China's fifth national-level metropolitan area and the only one in the northwest. It covers an area of 20,600 square kilometers, encompassing the entire city of Xi'an (including Xixian New Area), parts of Xianyang, Yaozhou District of Tongchuan, parts of Weinan, and the Yangling Demonstration Zone.

As of 2025, the economic aggregate of the Xi'an metropolitan area reached RMB 1.75 trillion, 1.3 times the figure when the plan was approved, accounting for 47.8% of Shaanxi Province's GDP. The intensity of R&D expenditure increased from 3.73% in 2020 to 4.16% in 2024. The plan systematically arranges 20 key tasks in six areas: three-dimensional transport circle, sci-tech innovation circle, industrial collaboration circle, ecological protection circle, living services circle, and a new highland for opening-up and cooperation. It also improves the party and government joint meeting system for the "four cities and one district" and strengthens monitoring and evaluation.

In building a comprehensive transport system, the plan proposes completing the Xi'an-Ankang high-speed railway, forming a "rice" shaped main framework of the high-speed rail network centered on Xi'an, orderly promoting the construction of suburban railways, and advancing expressway projects such as the Xi'an metropolitan area ring road. The Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission pointed out in a symposium in April 2026 that the 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical stage for promoting the quality improvement and upgrading of metropolitan area integration and the coordinated development of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration.