Shaanxi Province in northwest China has vowed to build itself into an "opening-up highland" as part of its efforts to pursue high-quality development, the provincial governor Zhao Gang said Thursday in Beijing.

Being the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, Shaanxi has seized the opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and leveraged its strengths in advanced manufacturing, efficient connectivity network and cultural communication to emerge as a pioneer for westward opening up, Zhao said at a press conference.

Over the past decade, the province's GDP has grown at an average annual rate of 6.4 percent, reaching 3.38 trillion yuan (about 475 billion U.S. dollars) last year.

To date, Shaanxi has built economic and trade ties with almost 200 countries and regions, and its trade volume with BRI countries over the past decade rose by 17.5 percent on average every year, 5.9 percentage points higher than the national level. The export value of new energy vehicles rose by 11.5 times, and that of integrated circuits accounted for 10 percent of China's total last year, said Zhao.

He also noted that Shaanxi has launched over 5,300 China-Europe freight trains in the past three years with 18 routes covering Central Asia, West Asia and Europe on a regular basis.

In the past 10 years, the province's total import and export volume increased by 14.2 percent annually, 9.2 percentage points higher than the national level.

In terms of foreign investment, the province has welcomed a number of renowned international corporations to invest here or expand investment, such as Samsung Electronics and Coca-Cola, Zhao said.

He added that the province will make efforts to cultivate more export-oriented business entities, support enterprises to develop cross-border business and continue to consolidate the export of competitive products.

"Efforts will also continue to optimize the foreign investment environment and maintain the growth momentum of foreign trade and foreign investment," he said.