One year on: Nandan's critical-metals pilot drives industrial upgrade

Launched in July 2025 under the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region government's plan, a pilot zone for high-quality development of critical metals in Nandan county represents a major local-level industrial initiative. It works toward two core objectives: securing stable supplies of strategically important metals and conserving the ecological buffer of the upper Pearl River watershed.

Hechi has a long-standing mining heritage. In earlier times, mining operations suffered from insufficient regulation, resulting in fragmented operating permits, low resource efficiency and heavy pollution of the Diaojiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River.

Over the past year, authorities have consolidated scattered mining rights. By June 2027, mine operators are expected to drop from 49 to fewer than eight, with large and medium-sized mines accounting for more than 70 percent of all sites.

Ecological restoration and digital upgrades yield tangible results. Remediated tailings storage and wastewater treatment facilities revive aquatic life in the Diaojiang River. The country's first fully unmanned underground non-coal mine cuts on-site staff by 67 percent and increases productivity.

AI-assisted smelting and waste-recycling plants recover more than 2,000 tons of metals from mining residues each year. Regular sea-rail freight services linking Beibu Gulf Port connect local mines to global supply chains.

Official figures show steady growth. In the first half of 2026, Hechi's non-ferrous metal output hit 24.08 billion yuan ($3.49 billion), rising 18.16 percent year-on-year. Twenty-one out of 28 signed investment projects are under construction.

Constraints remain in highend processing capacity and in technical talent recruitment, yet the pilot offers practical references for other resource-reliant mining regions across China.