Rare earth, also known as rare earth metals, is one of the 17 elements in the periodic table of chemical elements. Nowadays, it has been widely used in fields such as electronics, petrochemicals, metallurgy, machinery, energy, light industry, environmental protection, agriculture, etc. In the 21st century, the development of rare earth new materials has become a benchmark for measuring the level of scientific and technological innovation in a country or region.

The favorable timing, geographical location, and harmonious people have created unique advantages for the development of the rare earth new materials industry in Baotou, known as the "Rare Earth Capital". As the only national high-tech zone named after resources in China, Baotou Rare Earth High tech Zone is duty bound to develop and strengthen China's rare earth industry, enhance the scientific and technological level of China's rare earth industry, and improve the low-level development and utilization of rare earths in China.

Time flies like this, we can only seize the day and night!

Based on this foundation, during the 12th Five Year Plan period, especially since 2015, the Rare Earth High tech Zone has been fully committed to the sustainable development of the rare earth industry. Like a giant brush, painting a new picture of rare earth development; The rhythm is resounding, taking a new step towards becoming a strong industrial zone. A group of technological achievements in the same industry are becoming a driving force for the rapid development of regional economy.

Actively explore and promote the transformation and upgrading of the rare earth industry

Rare earths are extremely valuable strategic resources. Baotou is a world-renowned capital of rare earths. The Baotou Rare Earth High tech Zone Rare Earth Industrial Park has a 2 square kilometer rare earth application industrial park and 65 rare earth enterprises. From the perspective of industrial foundation, the rare earth industry in our city has initially formed an industrial pattern of "rare earth raw materials rare earth new materials rare earth terminal application products", and gradually extended the rare earth permanent magnet, hydrogen storage, polishing, luminescence, catalysis and other industrial chains.

This is unparalleled in China.

Shouldering the important mission of building a rare earth new material base and developing China's rare earth industry, the direction and determination of the rare earth high-tech zone have never wavered. At the same time, fierce competition in the market, scattered rare earth enterprises, low industrial concentration, rampant illegal mining of rare earth minerals, and severe overcapacity have also posed unfavorable factors for them. How to quickly find a way out in crisis and continuously develop and strengthen China's rare earth industry has become an urgent task for rare earth high-tech zones.

Seeking breakthroughs in difficult situations requires the transformation and upgrading of enterprises, as well as the support of governments at all levels.

In 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance approved the "Baotou Rare Earth Industry Transformation and Upgrading Pilot Plan". Starting from 2015, nearly 1 billion yuan of financial support will be provided within three years, striving to build Baotou into the largest rare earth new material, terminal application technology research and industrialization demonstration base in China by the end of 2017. The Pilot Plan proposes multiple key tasks, including promoting the construction of large groups, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of key enterprises, and cultivating new application enterprises. This requires the Rare Earth High tech Zone to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the rare earth industry, and explore a new path for the development of the domestic rare earth industry.

It is both a responsibility and an opportunity; And such opportunities are undoubtedly significant benefits for rare earth enterprises in the Rare Earth High tech Zone, bringing about a major transformation in the rare earth industry.

The same neodymium iron boron, in the past, most companies sold it based on raw materials, with a price of 500 to 600 yuan per kilogram, and the price fluctuated greatly. Now we produce raw materials into blanks through electroplating processing, and the price has to be calculated by piece, which is 2 to 3 times higher than before. "The person in charge of Baotou Tuo Rio Tinto Company introduced that in July 2014, the company's neodymium iron boron blank electroplating processing project was officially put into use, which filled the gap in the electroplating treatment of rare earth permanent magnet materials in Baotou City and laid the foundation for the extension of permanent magnet materials in post-processing. The long-standing problem that has plagued the Baotou rare earth permanent magnet material industry has finally been solved. We can extend our products to the downstream industry chain locally and amplify their value. Currently, more than 60% of the company's products are exported.

For Weifeng Electromagnetic Materials Company, transformation and upgrading are new hopes for the company's development. In 2015, Weifeng Electromagnetic collaborated with Academician Wang Yide and his team to establish an academician workstation, conducting research on the addition of rare earths in the later production process of oriented silicon steel, the development of high magnetic induction oriented silicon steel (Hi-B steel), and the study of magnetic field annealing of oriented silicon steel. The research on magnetic field annealing of oriented silicon steel mainly focuses on annealing oriented silicon steel under magnetic field conditions to improve its performance and fill the gap in China. Through cooperation, key technological challenges of enterprises can be overcome, technological achievements can be rapidly transformed, and transformation and upgrading have entered the fast lane.

The Rare Earth High tech Zone also focuses on promoting the transformation of the rare earth industry structure towards rare earth new materials and terminal application products, accelerating the formation of a complete industrial chain, solving bottleneck problems that restrict the development of terminal application products, and improving the overall added value of the industry. Driven by a series of favorable policy measures, rare earth enterprises in the Rare Earth High tech Zone have gathered a strong force to build a rare earth new material base. Tianhe Magnetic Materials' permanent magnet products enter the market; Gemina sapphire polishing technology is at a high level; Yong'an permanent magnet motors are applied in high-precision and cutting-edge fields such as aerospace, deep well drilling, and new energy vehicles.

The transformation and upgrading of enterprises, as well as the growth of innovation capabilities, have greatly promoted the improvement of their economic benefits. In 2015, 21 rare earth enterprises above designated size paid a total of 533.38 million yuan in taxes, a year-on-year increase of 90.3%. Among them, rare earth raw material enterprises accounted for 87.1%, achieving 464.46 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 89.9%; Rare earth new material enterprises accounted for 11.3%, achieving 60.45 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 114.3%. Rare earth terminal application enterprises accounted for 1.6%, achieving 8.47 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12%. The development momentum of intermediate products in the rare earth industry park is strong, with a share of over 85%, which also means a further leap in the transformation and upgrading of the rare earth new materials industry in the high-tech zone.