Baotou has prioritized high-end equipment manufacturing as a pillar industry for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30). By pursuing intelligent and green transformation, it empowers traditional enterprises to break new ground and fosters the rise of emerging enterprises.

P92 large-diameter heavy-wall seamless steel pipe was once a bottleneck holding back China's manufacturing sector. Long reliant on imports, it features formidable manufacturing difficulty and high technical barriers.

Partnering with Tsinghua University and other institutions, Inner Mongolia North Heavy Industries Group Co carried out collaborative research and development. It has broken through key technologies, including press design and the installation and commissioning of ultra-large hydraulic systems, achieving stable batch supply of the product. This ended the long-standing foreign technological monopoly, safeguarding the security of China's thermal power equipment industrial chains.

Baotou Aluminum Co's 1.2-GW new energy project in Darhan Muminggan Joint Banner achieved full-capacity grid connection last year. It blazed a new path for green development by deeply integrating wind and solar energy with electrolytic aluminum, setting a number of records in the industry at home and abroad.

"The company generates more than 15 billion kWh of electricity annually, of which green power accounts for 30 percent," said Bao Yongchun, a company representative. "We are now sprinting toward the 50 percent target."

With green power making up 30 percent of its power mix, Baotou Aluminum saves nearly 1.25 million metric tons of standard coal each year, equivalent to a 3-million-ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Baotou's equipment manufacturing has now formed a full industrial ecosystem spanning multiple tracks, including military equipment, wind power machinery, and energy storage systems.

The city aims to fulfill the ambitious vision of building a nationally influential high-end equipment industrial cluster worth 100 billion yuan ($15.28 billion) during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.