State-owned iron and steel manufacturer Baogang Group exported 1.53 million tons of steel in the first 10 months of 2018, reports Baotou Daily.

Some 90.98 percent of the steel was exported to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Established in 1954, Baogang Group is based in Baotou and is the largest steel business based in Inner Mongolia autonomous region. It is one of the oldest iron and steel industrial bases in China, with a large production base in the city; it is also the country’s largest scientific research and production base for rare earth metals.

In recent years, Baogang Group has been actively strengthening ties with neighboring countries, and increasing exports of products to BRI countries. So far, the company has exported steel products to 44 BRI countries.

In addition, the company has actively participated in large-scale infrastructure projects in BRI countries, especially construction projects requiring large volumes of steel.

Since 2016, Baotou Steel International Economic and Trading Co, a subsidiary of Baogang Group, has been engaged in railway construction projects in East Africa, with operations in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. At the same time, it has expanded into new markets in the Middle East and India.

In January 2015, a helical weld pipe weighing 42 tons, which was made from Baogang Group’s rare earth high-strength steel, was sold to Egypt for use in construction work at Port Said on the Suez Canal.

In May 2017, Baogang Group supplied more than 20,000 tons of rails for the Mombasa Nairobi Railway, which is known as the “Kenyan Centennial Railway Dream”.