Baotou [Photo/Baotou news network]

An industrial park in Baotou [Photo/Baotou news network]

Baotou, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, has moved up in the ranking of the top 100 cities in China in terms of economy in 2022, going from 92nd to 81st.

In 2022, the GDP of Baotou increased by 7.2 percent, ranking Baotou third among the top 100 cities in China and first among the 12 cities in the autonomous region.

As for industry and investment, which best reflect the level of economic development of a region, Baotou's above-scale industrial added value increased by 19.6 percent, achieving double-digit growth for 28 consecutive months and ranking first in the region for 18 consecutive months, which is the best level of the city in the past 12 years.

Last year, Baotou introduced 107 manufacturing projects, and its investment attraction of advanced manufacturing ranked first in the autonomous region.

In 2021 and 2022, Baotou won the commendation from the National Development and Reform Commission for its remarkable achievements in promoting the transformation and upgrading of old industrial bases, and became the only city in the autonomous region to receive this commendation for two consecutive years.

Manufacturing, photovoltaic and rare earth are the biggest contributors to Baotou’s economic development. The added value of the photovoltaic manufacturing industry increased by 10 percent over the previous year, and the rare earth industry increased by 77.4 percent.

The added value of Baotou's manufacturing industry in 2022 increased by a whopping 24.6 percent over the previous year.

At the same time, Baotou has also been focusing on the development of five strategic emerging industrial clusters: onshore wind power equipment, advanced metal materials, carbon fiber and polymer new materials, new energy heavy trucks and supporting facilities, and hydrogen production and energy storage.