Savills, the world's leading real estate consultancy company listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced the launch of a branch on Wednesday in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province in Northwest China, to explore the market in Shaanxi and Northwest China.

Savills called the move an 'important' step, especially as it comes on the 20th anniversary of its presence in China. It said Xi'an will become a crucial node for Savills to participate in the development of the cities along the Silk Road economic belt.

The British company already operates in 14 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. Xi'an branch is Savills's first to provide integrated services for real estate, including offices, shops, residential, hotel-style service apartments, valuation, property management, asset management, investment, market research and development in Shaanxi and Northwest China.

This year China and UK launched the age of golden relationship and President Xi Jinping's State visit to UK in October is bound to create new opportunities for the two countries to deepen cooperation in various fields.

The establishment of Xi'an branch received strong support from Chinese and UK governments.

Albert Lau, CEO and chairman of Savills China, said that the establishment of Xi'an branch was Savills' active response to the Belt and Road Initiative and also showed that Savills would accelerate its development in China's second- and third-tier cities.

Xi'an, inland city in Northwest China, witnessed a stable economic development in 2014 with GDP reaching 547.4 billion yuan ($86.39 billion), an increase of 9.9 percent compared with that in 2013.