Baotou high-tech district marks progress in innovation

The Baotou Rare Earth High-Tech Industrial Development Zone -- located in Baotou city in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region -- has stepped up cooperation between universities and companies, so as to boost the innovation capabilities of its resident enterprises, according to a report in the Baotou Daily.

Officials said that by the end of last year, the Baotou Rare Earth Research and Development Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Baotou Materials Research Institute in Shanghai Jiaotong University had tracked more than 60 high-tech achievements.

They had established 18 pilot test lines and 11 industrialized projects, providing technical services to more than 200 companies, officials said.

In 2019 alone, the zone helped 39 companies pass the autonomous region’s assessments for national high-tech enterprises, accounting for 57 percent of the city’s total.

Officials added that a total of 13 companies applied to be given the status as “Little Giant” companies in the city, accounting for 56 percent of the city’s total. In addition, 17 companies applied to be municipal innovation-led private enterprises, accounting for 68 percent of the city’s total.

Officials said that rare earth enterprises and scientific research units participated in the drafting of 160 national and industry standards, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total national and industry standards.