Highlights

• CNRE leadership emphasizes mission-driven, collaborative innovation across departments to strengthen rare earth technology development
• Research teams are directed to prioritize demand-driven R&D, market assessments, and cutting-edge technological exploration
• The strategic meeting aims to support China's 'dual rare earth base' strategy through integrated and pragmatic research approaches.

Recently, Northern Rare Earth Group (CNRE) held a strategic coordination meeting (opens in a new tab) on scientific and technological innovation. The session was chaired by Liu Peixun—Party Standing Committee member and Vice General Manager of Baogang Group, as well as CNRE’s Party Secretary and Chairman—and included CNRE Vice General Manager Lian Hua, members of the company’s Industrial Collaborative Innovation Center, and key personnel from the Technology Center, Marketing Department, and Rare Earth Research Institute. CNRE’s Chief Engineer Zhao Zhihua moderated the meeting.

The Meeting

During the meeting, representatives from the Technology Center and Rare Earth Research Institute presented updates on current research priorities, project content, commercialization outlooks, and progress in specific application areas. Attendees engaged in open dialogue to assess ongoing challenges and gaps in execution.

Leadership emphasized the need for tighter integration across departments and the establishment of a robust information-sharing system to optimize research resources. Research must align closely with CNRE’s industrial development roadmap, with a particular focus on downstream applications. Teams were urged to pursue demand-driven R&D, conduct deeper market assessments, and explore disruptive, cutting-edge technologies. Independent innovation should be prioritized, with active incorporation of external R&D capabilities.

Real World Pragmatic

The directive was clear: innovation efforts must be mission-focused, collaborative, and responsive to real-world production needs. Research teams are expected to spend more time on the factory floor to ensure laboratory breakthroughs transition rapidly to scalable industrial outputs. This coordinated innovation push is intended to anchor CNRE’s leadership role in building out China’s “dual rare earth base” strategy.