The People's Government of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region announced its 2024 Science and Technology Awards on Sept 23.

It released the list of winners in five categories — the Science and Technology Progress Award, the Natural Science Award, the Technological Invention Award, Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award and the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award.

The city of Baotou in the region won a total of 29 awards in four categories, achieving its best results to date.

Of these, Baotou won seven first prizes and 12 second prizes in the Science and Technology Progress Award, three first prizes and two second prizes in the Technology Invention Award, with 50 percent of the first prizes awarded.

It received one second prize in the Natural Science Award and one Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award. As a participating unit, Baotou also achieved three scientific and technological progress awards for its scientific and technological achievements.

In recent years, the city has focused on key industries such as rare earths, equipment manufacturing and new materials.

It's strengthened its construction of innovation platforms and made breakthroughs in the transformation of key technology research and technological achievements — forming a number of landmark scientific research achievements, promoting the integration of sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation and injecting strong momentum into the overall industrial transformation and upgrading.