Baotou: From the Discovery of Rare Earths to the "Rare Earth Capital of the World"

On June 29, the State Council officially issued the "Regulations on the Management of Rare Earths," marking the first time China has regulated the development and utilization of rare earth resources through administrative legislation.

Rare earths are a collective term for 17 elements including lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, terbium, and gadolinium. They are widely used in high-tech industries such as manufacturing, light industry, smart electronic products, and new energy, and are hailed as "vitamins of modern industry." Today, one out of every six new inventions worldwide is related to rare earths, and rare earths are increasingly becoming strategic resources that influence future economic development.

The world’s rare earths depend on China, and China’s rare earths depend on Baotou. China is the world's largest country in terms of rare earth reserves and production. Among them, Baotou City in Inner Mongolia holds 83.7% of the country's reserves and 37.8% of the global reserves. The Bayan Obo Mine in Baotou is the world's largest rare earth mine in terms of reserves.

In the 1930s, Chinese geologists discovered that the Bayan Obo iron ore contained rare earth minerals.

In 1959, Baotou Steel Group produced the first furnace of rare earth ferrosilicon alloy, marking the beginning of China's rare earth industry.

In 1961, the central government dispatched over 300 scientific and technical personnel from research institutions such as the Beijing Iron and Steel Research Institute and the General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals to support Baotou. From then on, China's rare earth science and technology started in Baotou.

In 1992, China's first high-tech zone named after rare earths was established in Baotou with the approval of the State Council, marking the entry of China's rare earth industry into the industrialisation development stage.

After decades of development, Baotou has now formed a complete industrial system ranging from the mining of raw rare earth ore, beneficiation and smelting separation, to functional materials and end-use applications. Seven of the top 10 magnetic material enterprises in China by comprehensive strength have established operations in Baotou, eight rare earth enterprises have entered the pipeline for listing, the local conversion rate of smelting and separation products has increased to 88%, the capacity for permanent magnetic materials ranks second in the country, and the capacity for hydrogen storage, polishing, and alloy materials ranks first in the country.

From the discovery and research of rare earths to their application, looking back at the history of Baotou's rare earth industry, the sound of progress is resounding and pleasing. Over the 75 years since the founding of New China, Baotou's rare earth industry has forged ahead through continuous exploration. Today, this "World Capital of Rare Earths" is advancing with high morale, accelerating its transformation from "world-class reserves" to a "world-class industry."

Currently, the Wolong Permanent Magnet Motor Industrial Park project in the Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Zone is under construction in full swing.

According to the project leader, the first phase of the Wolong Baotou Permanent Magnet Motor Industrial Park covers an area of 200 mu with an investment of 1.26 billion yuan. Upon completion, it will have an annual production capacity of 52,000 sets of NEV motors, 32,000 low-speed large power permanent magnet motors, 1,300 wind turbines, and 20,000 mt of castings, among other products. This will help Baotou build an entire industry chain from rare earth magnetic materials to permanent magnet power components and then to application scenarios, promoting the clustered and agglomerated development of the permanent magnet motor industry.

"Against the backdrop of the dual carbon goals, the application scenarios for permanent magnet motors are very broad." Chi Jianyi, former director of the Baotou Rare Earth Research and Development Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and advisor to the Lucheng Laboratory in Baotou, stated that in the industrial production sector, replacing traditional power motors with rare earth permanent magnet motors not only extends the rare earth industry chain but also develops China's rare earth application technology.

Currently, Baotou is driving innovation to continuously expand and deepen the development of the rare earth application industry, focusing on the development of five major new materials: rare earth permanent magnets, hydrogen storage, polishing, catalytic additives, and rare earth alloys.

The city is fully committed to developing the permanent magnet motor application industry. It is accelerating the construction of a permanent magnet motor industrial park, actively promoting the development of mid-to-high-end products such as industrial energy-saving motors, NEV motors, and servo motors, attracting 30 enterprises including Wolong to settle in, and vigorously implementing the replacement project of permanent magnet motors, with an annual output value reaching 5 billion yuan.

Baotou is also dedicated to developing polishing, catalysis, and optical functional industries. Plans include implementing high-performance projects such as 3,000 mt of rare earth polishing materials and 6,000 mt of catalysts, accelerating the industrialization process of projects like rare earth optical modification powder, and forming a capacity of 40,000 mt of polishing materials and 20,000 mt of catalytic materials and additives within the year.

The city is making all-out efforts to develop the hydrogen storage material application industry. Baotou is pushing for the swift implementation of projects such as solid-state hydrogen storage forklifts by China Northern Rare Earth, expanding the commercial application of nickel–metal hydride batteries and their application devices in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen refueling stations, and building a base for the application of rare earth hydrogen storage.

Further expanding the market share of high-performance, high-value-added rare earth hydrogen storage products, and strengthening the hydrogen storage and alloy industries. This year, it will form a capacity of 7,000 mt of hydrogen storage materials and 80,000 mt of alloy materials, aiming to create the largest rare earth hydrogen storage material industrial base and high-purity rare earth metal and alloy base in the country.

In June 2024, during his inspection tour in Inner Mongolia, President Xi Jinping emphasized the need to leverage strategic resource advantages, strengthen the protective development, high-quality utilization, and standardized management of strategic resources, enhance local deep processing of energy resources, and develop the strategic resource industry well. In October 2024, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development in Inner Mongolia and Striving to Write a New Chapter of Chinese-Style Modernization," clearly stating that Baotou should be built into the largest rare earth new material base and a globally leading rare earth application base in the country.

Seizing this significant opportunity, Baotou has set its sights on the goal of building "two rare earth bases" and is reshaping the landscape of the rare earth industry.

The trial production of medium-heavy rare earth metal products has been successful, a 100,000 mt green smelting project for rare earths has commenced construction, the rare earth new materials technology innovation center is now operational, and the comprehensive launch of the rare earth permanent magnet motor industrial park... A new situation of full-chain development and diverse prosperity in the rare earth industry is rapidly taking shape here.

As one of the world's most abundant rare earth resource regions, Baotou City is leveraging its unique resource endowment and firm development confidence to fully promote the high-quality development of the rare earth industry. In H1, the rare earth industry's value-added growth rate in Baotou City reached 32.6%, maintaining a rapid development trend. Baotou City anticipates that by 2025, the output value of the rare earth industry will exceed 100 billion yuan, advancing from "world-class reserves" to a "world-class industry."