Headed by Wu Ziran, an investment ambassador and former bureau chief of the Economic Daily, an investment promotion delegation from Baarin Left Banner, in North China's Inner Mongolian autonomous region, paid a visit to the Tianjin-based Northern Research Institute of Nanjing University of Science and Technology (NJUST).

The delegation sought to learn more about the NJUST Northern Research Institute's research development and seek cooperation on heavily-processed non-ferrous metals.

Zuo Xianglong, deputy head of Baarin Left Banner, said that the county-level area is home to Asia's largest and the world's seventh largest production base of silver ore, as well as the largest lead-zinc ore reserve in northern China.

Baarin Left Banner has found mineral resources in 138 specific sites, built over 80 mines and discovered more than 30 types of mineral resources. The region has rich deposits of non-ferrous metals, including lead, zinc, copper and stannum. There are also precious metals resources, such as gold and silver, as well as ferrous metals, like iron and manganese.

The amount of proved non-ferrous metal reserves in Baarin Left Banner has reached 450 million tons. The area has been working on building it into a silver capital, expanding industrial chains, raked in more revenues utilizing new technologies, and followed the sustainable development approach.

During their visit, the delegation toured around the exhibition halls of the NJUST and held talks with Qi Longjiang, executive president of the NJUST Northern Research Institute, over in-depth cooperation.

Li Dong, president of Beijing Lvke Investment Group, briefed attendees on their investment in listed high-tech firms and expressed a strong willingness to invest in the cooperative project between the NJUST Northern Research Institute and Baarin Left Banner in non-ferrous metal processing.

The NJUST Northern Research Institute was jointly built by Hexi district of Tianjin city and NJUST in June 2015, and is committed to promoting the development of smart manufacturing. It has set up over 10 research institutes related to strategic emerging industries, undertaken dozens of national-level and provincial-level research projects, obtained over 100 invention patents, fostered a number of high-tech enterprises, and made positive contributions to the improvement of Tianjin's independent innovation capabilities and high-quality development.