Highlights

• Baogang Group's Party Committee reaffirms its role as a 'main force' in building China's rare earth bases in Inner Mongolia, linking commercial operations to strategic national political objectives.
• New digital partnership between Baogang and China Mobile targets AI-driven industrial transformation, creating benchmark solutions for intelligent rare earth manufacturing at scale.
• China finalizes first national occupational standards for rare earth workers, establishing unified certification framework to strengthen control over technical skills in refining and processing.

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Baogang Group, China’s flagship steel and rare earth conglomerate based in Inner Mongolia, has rolled out a coordinated set of political, digital, and workforce moves that underscore Beijing’s push to turn China from a “large rare earth country” into a “strong rare earth country.” In a series of recent Baogang Daily reports, the state-owned group highlights tighter alignment with the central Party line, a new digital-transformation partnership with China Mobile, and the near-finalization of the first national occupational standards for rare earth workers.

At the 38th meeting of Baogang’s Party Committee Standing Committee this year, Party Secretary and Chair Meng Fanying led executives in studying General Secretary Xi Jinping’s latest speeches and instructions, including directives on rule of law and workplace safety.

The session explicitly framed Baogang as a “main force” in building China’s “two rare earth bases” in Inner Mongolia, committing the group to law-based operations, stronger compliance management, and intensive winter safety inspections. Internally, this signals that rare earth operations are not just a commercial business but a strategic political task, with performance judged against national plans such as the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan.

In parallel, Baogang is deepening its digital infrastructure. On November 25, Meng met with Ma Xianfeng, Party Secretary and Chairman of China Mobile Inner Mongolia. The two sides pledged to expand cooperation in “enterprise digital transformation” and “new-quality productive forces,” including industrial artificial intelligence and intelligent manufacturing.

China Mobile committed to tailoring services to Baogang’s needs, while both parties spoke of building benchmark digital solutions for industrial application scenarios. For Western observers, this points to an emerging model where China’s state-owned telecom and industrial champions co-develop AI- and data-driven rare earth operations at scale.

Perhaps most tangible for the industry, Baogang hosted the final review meeting for the national occupational standard “Rare Earth Smelting Worker” and the preliminary review for “Rare Earth Materials Production Worker” on November 26.

Led by Northern Rare Earth—Baogang’s key listed rare earth subsidiary—experts completed item-by-item reviews of the new standards. The expert panel unanimously approved the smelting standard and advanced the materials-production standard, stating that both align with national terminology, reflect current industry needs, and are practical for training and assessment. Once formally issued and implemented, these standards will create a unified national framework for certifying rare earth technicians, tightening China’s control over the skills base behind its dominant refining and processing capacity.

For U.S. and Western stakeholders, the message is clear: China is working on simultaneously aligning Party governance, digital infrastructure, and technical workforce standards around its rare earth base. That combination may deepen its structural advantage in rare earth processing unless rival ecosystems build comparable capabilities.

This report originates (opens in a new tab) from a state-owned entity’s publication and should be independently verified before forming business or investment conclusions.

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