Baotou's Rare Earth High-tech Industrial Development Zone is powering the momentum of rare earth permanent magnet materials, which are the backbone of the low-carbon economy, from electric vehicles to energy-efficient appliances and wind turbines.

In 2024, the zone sharpened its focus on attracting top-tier enterprises and reinforcing mid-to-downstream segments of the rare earth value chain, particularly in permanent magnet and functional materials. The goal was clear: scale up industry leaders, nurture listed companies, and accelerate the transformation from raw materials to high-end applications.

Production and market expansion efforts are now in full swing, with key magnetic material projects moving forward rapidly. Baotou is also advancing hydrogen storage and polishing materials, while increasing investment in high-purity metals, compounds, and specialty rare earth functional materials. These efforts are projected to push the city's rare earth materials capacity beyond 250,000 metric tons, ranking it first in China.

From January to October, the zone's output of industries above a designated size surged 19.3 percent year-on-year, with rare earth output alone jumping 28.7 percent, contributing over 43 percent to its total industrial output. This year, rare earth industrial output is expected to exceed 60 billion yuan ($8.34 billion), with new materials and applications reaching 30 billion yuan.

The Baotou Rare Earth New Materials Industrial Cluster, the zone's crowning achievement, has just been named one of China's top 35 advanced manufacturing clusters by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, standing as the nation's only rare earth cluster on the list.