In recent years, the city of Baotou — located in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region — has achieved significant results in its green transformation.

That's with industrial energy consumption now accounting for 85 percent of total social energy consumption and 95 percent of electricity consumption.

As an important industrial base in China, Baotou is accelerating its transformation from a traditional "energy consumer" to a "green manufacturing pioneer".

In the first four years of the 14th Five Year Plan (2021-2025), the city's gross domestic product or GDP has cumulatively increased by about 35 percent, while energy consumption intensity has decreased by 35 percent.

In the first quarter of the current year, while GDP grew by 7.1 percent, overall energy consumption intensity decreased by 6.3 percent.

In the first three months of 2025, key business enterprises in the city consumed 8.5 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy, equivalent to reducing emissions by over 6.5 million metric tons.

From January to May, green electricity consumption in the crystalline silicon manufacturing industry remained stable at around 70 percent, while the rare earth industry remained at 50 percent.

Overall, the city is said to be accelerating its layout of low-carbon pilot projects around key areas and parks.

Damao Banner and Baiyun Mining Area have been selected as pilot areas for peak carbon in the autonomous region, while the Rare Earth High-tech Zone and Guiyang Jinshan Industrial Park have become pilot parks.

Among them, the Damao Zero Carbon Industrial Park has built an industrial chain model of "green power production + smart grid + circular economy".

Meanwhile, the Baiyun Mining Area has achieved a balance between green power generation and utilization — and is promoting the construction of smart grids and energy storage technologies to demonstrate county-level carbon neutrality.

From green electricity substitution and technological transformation in factory workshops, to cutting-edge technology demonstrations in its industrial parks, Baotou is said to be achieving energy conservation and carbon reduction through solid action. 

As such, it's providing a "Baotou sample" for the green transformation of industrial cities across the country.