Highlights
- Baogang Group demonstrates aggressive technological innovation across rare earth and steel sectors
- Developing cutting-edge materials and green technologies
- Company launches 10 new steel products
- Company launches 6 rare earth separation products
- Breakthroughs include:
- Bioleaching
- Magnetic materials
- High-speed rail infrastructure
- China’s rare earth strategy extends beyond mining to comprehensive innovation ecosystems
- Challenging Western technological dominance in critical industrial sectors
Baogang Group, one of China’s flagship state-owned enterprises and a cornerstone of the country’s rare earth and steel sectors, is showcasing aggressive innovation and strategic transformation in 2025—developments that could carry significant global implications, particularly for the U.S. and allied nations seeking supply chain independence.
Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx) notes this news originates from Baogang Group, a partially state-owned conglomerate. And thus claims ultimately must be validated via third-party peer review literature and the like.
Key Highlight: 400 km/h High-Speed Rail Track Innovation
Baogang recently unveiled domestically produced high-speed rail tracks capable of supporting trains traveling at 400 km/h, marking a technological leap in rail infrastructure and reinforcing China’s high-speed dominance. These tracks are already being deployed on a core segment of a major high-speed railway under construction.
Clustered Innovation Across Rare Earths and Steel
In the first half of 2025, Baogang and its subsidiaries—Baotou Steel and Northern Rare Earth—launched 10 new steel products and 6 rare earth separation products, supplying major domestic projects. Strategic categories include wind power steel, marine pipeline steel, and weather-resistant bridge steel, reflecting vertical integration into national infrastructure and energy sectors.
Major Rare Earth Breakthroughs
Bioleaching Demonstration Line
A 10-ton microbial rare earth tailings processing line is now operational, enabling environmentally friendly extraction from mining waste.
Low-praseodymium, high-cerium magnetic material innovations
Critical for EVs and wind power, helping reduce reliance on high-cost rare earths.
Large-scale giant magnetostrictive material development
For sonar and precision vibration dampening, breaking overseas monopolies.
Miniaturized high-efficiency disk motor
Co-developed with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and German engineers, solving cooling challenges in EVs and consumer electronics.
Expansion into Rare Earth Applications
Baogang is investing in rare earth-enabled textiles, agriculture, and medical products, highlighting Beijing’s push to move up the value chain beyond traditional magnet production.
Green and Smart Manufacturing
Baogang reported supplying 800,000 tons of green steel to the home appliance sector. It became the first Inner Mongolian firm to join the World Steel Association’s Sustainable Development Charter, and its rare earth unit was named an elite smart factory by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Hydrogen & Finance Frontiers
Twelve solid-state hydrogen storage products have hit the market, alongside a pilot hydrogen refueling station. Baogang is also experimenting with rare earth-linked fabrics for apparel in collaboration with top brands.
Bottom Line
Baogang is not just producing steel and rare earths—it’s building advanced materials platforms, green tech ecosystems, and digital infrastructure with state backing. For the West, the message is clear: China’s rare earth edge is no longer just about mining—it’s about mastering materials, manufacturing, and markets.
Why the West Should Take Seriously
The West—especially the United States—must take China’s rare earth dominance with utmost seriousness, not only because of its control over the two foundational rare earth bases—Baogang/Northern Rare Earth (upstream and midstream extraction and separation) and Jiangxi/Longnan (downstream innovation, magnet production, and advanced applications)—but also because of the systemic disruption this dominance enables across critical verticals like green energy, electric vehicles, defense systems, aerospace, and advanced electronics.
China isn’t just the world’s supplier of rare earth oxides; it has become the world’s rare earth technocracy, filing 10x more patents than the U.S. in rare earth-based materials, magnetics, and application technologies, not to mention the development of standards. With breakthroughs in magnetostrictive materials, solid-state hydrogen, bioleaching of tailings, and rare earth-based smart textiles, China is consolidating not just supply chains, but entire innovation ecosystems. Suppose the West fails to build integrated mine-to-market capabilities and invest aggressively in rare earth IP and manufacturing. In that case, it risks permanent technological and industrial subordination in sectors that define national power and economic future.
Source: Baogang Group (opens in a new tab).
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