Abstract: Bank is an important part of modern economic activities, it provides financial support for economic development, and the spatial structure of bank branches is an important part of modern urban space research. In order to reveal the bank location characteristics and spatial evolution, 1218 banking outlets in the urban areas of Xi’an are chosen as the research objects. Using a combination of GIS and spatial statistics analysis, In this paper, the evolution process and trend of bank network in the main part of Xi’an are analyzed. The result shows that: (1) bank outlets gradually spread from the city center to outer peripheral areas and urban main roads are the main paths of the evolution of bank network; (2) the expansion of bank outlets in the central region in the range of 1km from the Clock Tower goes slowly. However, expansion direction of banks changes significantly and the Northeast - southwest direction has become the main direction of bank expansion; (3) a multi level bank gathering area is gradually formed in Xi’an city. In the future, the Economic and Technological Development Zone will become a new center of bank network. The research results have certain application value for the arrangement of a rational layout of financial institutions and the construction of financial centers.

Key words: bank, financial space, spatial evolution, Xi’an city, China