Highlights
- Baogang Group and Ganjiang Innovation Institute are strengthening collaboration to transform China’s rare earth sector through technological innovation and strategic research.
- The partnership aims to bridge northern and southern rare earth bases, enhancing China’s global critical materials supply chain leadership.
- The joint effort focuses on advancing high-end manufacturing, developing advanced materials, and supporting national strategic technological goals.
On March 26, Baogang Group Chairman and Party Secretary Meng Fanying led a senior delegation to visit the Ganjiang Innovation Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (opens in a new tab) in Jiangxi Province. The visit marks a significant step toward deepening technological collaboration between two of China’s top national-level institutions in the rare earth industry. Part of the ongoing and unfolding mission known as “two rare earth bases” in China, with the aim of bridging two rare earth mining and refining regions while capitalizing on the rare earth processing monopoly to advance value-added industry sectors.
The recent meeting was reported via press release (opens in a new tab).
Key Scientific Breakthroughs Technological Innovation
During a formal discussion with Qi Tao, Party Secretary of the Ganjiang Institute, both parties affirmed their commitment to strategic collaboration in rare earths and mineral resource innovation. Qi emphasized that Baogang and the Institute have already developed a close working relationship, particularly in the development and utilization of mineral resources. He called for deeper, broader cooperation focused on national strategic goals—including major research projects and industrial innovation.
Meng Fanying praised the Institute’s rapid growth and impressive scientific achievements. He underscored the vital role of technological innovation in transforming and upgrading China’s rare earth sector. Meng positioned both Baogang Group and the Ganjiang Innovation Institute as elite national actors with a shared mission to serve China’s strategic interests.
Tightening The Partnership
Looking ahead, the two sides pledged to strengthen integration across industrial production, research and development, talent training, and commercial application. Their shared goal is to accelerate the transformation of scientific research from the lab to the production line—fueling value-added manufacturing and high-quality growth in China’s rare earth industry.
Strategic Significance—Industrial Policy
Baogang Group, based in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, is China’s largest, rare earth mining and processing enterprise. It plays a central role in producing light rare earth elements such as neodymium and praseodymium, which are critical to permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defense technologies.
The Ganjiang Innovation Institute, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, focuses on advanced materials research and rare earth applications. Located in southern Jiangxi—a major base for heavy rare earth resources—the institute forms part of Beijing’s effort to strengthen value-added downstream capabilities like rare earth alloys, magnets, and new materials.
The collaboration between Baogang and the Ganjiang Institute is not merely academic—it is industrial policy in action. Together, they bridge the geographic and resource divide between China’s northern light rare earth base (Baotou) and southern heavy rare earth base (Ganzhou), a concept often referred to in Chinese policy as the construction of “two rare earth bases” (两个稀土基地).
Implications
This alliance reflects China’s ongoing strategy to shift from being the world’s raw material supplier to a high-end manufacturer in rare earth technologies. As Rare Earth Exchanges has sought to explain to Western readers, the “two rare earth bases” in China means both the bridging of the two major Chinese rare earth refining regions plus the ongoing leveraging ofthe rare earth element processing monopoly to drive forward athree-phased plan for worldwide market ascendancy.
Enter the importance of such partnerships. They signal greater central coordination between mining giants and top-tier research institutions to ensure national security, supply chain resilience, and technological leadership in critical sectors. Rare Earth Exchanges has repeatedly declared that this type of activity must be part of a comparable industry policy among allies in the West.
By aligning Baogang’s industrial scale with the Ganjiang Institute’s R&D strength, the partnership will help accelerate breakthroughs in magnet materials, rare earth metallurgy, and green processing technologies. These developments will not only enhance China’s rare earth self-sufficiency but also further consolidate its dominance in the global critical materials supply chain.
In short, this is a fusion of muscle and mind—a powerhouse partnership aimed at transforming rare earths into long-term national advantage.
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