Baotou Rare-Earth Hi-tech Zone

Baotou Rare-Earth Hi-tech Zone is located in the south of Baotou, North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region with an area of 120 square kilometers and a population of 130,000. It is China’s only zone with a “rare earth” designation.

According to the data published by the Baotou government in April 2018, more than 4,600 firms were registered in the zone. Among them, there were 65 firms in the rare earth industry, 22 listed firms, seven Fortune 500 companies and 39 foreign-invested companies. 

The zone also had 49 high-tech firms, accounting for 40 percent of the region’s total number, and 2,410 patents filed – half of the city's total, as well as 50 research and development (R&D) centers. A total of 329 overseas returnees were attracted to settle in the zone.

In 2017, the industrial output of the zone was 93.4 billion yuan ($13.5 billion) and the industrial added value was 18 billion yuan, generating taxes of about 8 billion yuan. The foreign exchange earned from exports reached $322 million, a year-on-year increase of 13 percent.