Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone
The Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Located in Baotou, in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone was established in 1990 and was approved by the State Council -- China’s Cabinet -- as a national level high-tech industrial development zone in 1992.
It is the only national level high-tech industrial development zone dedicated to the rare earths industry in China and is the first national level high-tech zone in the autonomous region.
A water feature and garden in the Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
There are 8,447 registered companies in the zone, of which 95 are rare earths producers, with 22 of them being listed companies, while seven are subsidiaries of Fortune Global 500 groups and 39 are foreign-funded enterprises.
A total of 81 enterprises in the zone have been approved as high-tech enterprises and 79 as innovation pilot enterprises, accounting for 56 percent of the total number in Baotou city. Eight enterprises were selected as Baotou’s “Little Giant" Enterprises, accounting for 80 percent of the city’s total.
There are 73 corporate R & D centers in the zone, including 49 at or above the autonomous regional level. A total of 3,335 patents have been granted to date, with 73.2 invention patents granted per 10,000 people, ranking it first in Baotou city.
The Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The zone has attracted 298 top rare earths experts to locate there from overseas, accounting for 60 percent of the experts in the field in Inner Mongolia.
The development zone contains eight sub-parks, including the Rare Earth Application Park, the East Hope Circular Economy Park and the High-end Equipment Manufacturing Park and University Science Park.
The sub-parks focus on the industrial development of new rare earths materials and various industrial applications, such as deep processing for aluminum and copper, high-end equipment manufacturing and modern services.
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