Highlights
- Chinese officials convened a high-level symposium in Baotou to advance the integration of science and industry under the ‘Two Rare Earth Bases’ strategy.
- The event signals a national effort to consolidate China’s rare earth dominance through state-directed innovation and vertically integrated industrial clusters.
- Beijing demonstrates an aggressive approach to rare earth development, challenging Western market-based approaches with coordinated industrial planning.
On thetwo-year anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s 2023 visit to Inner Mongolia, Chinese officials convened a high-level symposium in Baotou to assess and advance the integration of science and industry under China’s “Two Rare Earth Bases” strategy. The event signals an intensifying national effort to consolidate China’s rare earth dominance through state-directed innovation and vertically integrated industrial clusters.
Co-hosted by the Inner Mongolia Science and Technology Department, the Industry and Information Technology Department, the Baotou Municipal Government, and Baogang Group (China’s largest rare earth producer), the symposium emphasized the fusion of technological and industrial innovation as a core development priority.
National, Regional and Local Planning in Rare Earth Complex
Planning Intensifies
Senior officials, including Baotou Party Secretary Ding Xiufeng and top science and industry leaders from Inner Mongolia, Zhang Wentao and Wang Jinbao, reiterated Beijing’s mandate: to expand rare earth material production and rapidly scale downstream applications—particularly advanced materials. Ding touted Baotou’s emergence as China’s largest base for rare earth new materials, with“global leadership in sight” for applied technologies. He urged unwavering alignment with the central government’s geopolitical and industrial agenda.
Key voices at the event included members and leaders from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the China Rare Earth Society. They highlighted not only the technical strides made in materials innovation but also the critical importance of securing upstream supply chains and reforming research institutions for faster commercialization.
According to Baogang Group Chair Meng Fanying, progress on the Rare Earth New Materials Innovation Center is accelerating. Regional innovation mechanisms, she said, are already producing measurable results. Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx) recently reported on this hub.
Notably, government officials stressed that the symposium was not merely a review, but a “re-mobilization” for aggressive expansion. The Inner Mongolia Industry and IT Department has pledged to accelerate the transformation of the rare earth sector into a “high-end, intelligent, and green” industry and implement more robust policy support, particularly for strategic partnerships between academia and state-owned enterprises.
Critical Implications for Western Supply Chains
China’s “Two Rare Earth Bases” strategy—positioning Baotou as the production heart and application engine—underscores a continued fusion of geopolitical ambition and industrial central planning. The West’s fragmented,market-based approach may struggle to match the scale, coordination, and policy force now on display in Inner Mongolia.
As Beijing doubles down, U.S. and allied nations face a narrowing window to fund independent processing, materials R&D, and secure offtake routes. The Baotou symposium sends a clear signal: China’s rare earth industrial strategy is advancing faster and more deeply by design.
Source: Baogang Daily (opens in a new tab)
Translated and reported by Rare Earth Exchanges.
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