Inner Mongolia

TL;DR

Rare earth hub (Baotou 10-year plan); 7.3% GDP growth (2023, among highest); major coal producer; Mongolia mineral transit point; wind power potential.

region in China

By Alex Denne

Inner Mongolia and Jiangxi are central to China's rare earth production, while coal output remains high alongside Shanxi. Baotou is set to become China's rare earth hub under Inner Mongolia's 10-year plan, with initiatives boosting mining, refining, and magnet production for the new-energy industry and global markets. The autonomous region achieved 7.3% GDP growth in 2023—among China's highest. Coal mining remains significant, but the region diversifies into rare earth processing critical for EV batteries and clean energy technology. Mongolia (the independent country) exports 88% of minerals unprocessed to China through Inner Mongolia border crossings, making this region the critical transit point. Grasslands cover vast territories, supporting pastoral herding alongside industrial extraction. Wind power potential ranks among China's highest given open terrain and consistent wind patterns.

Locations in Inner Mongolia

HohhotPop. 3.4MChina's Dairy Capital (Mengniu + Yili = 14% of national dairy revenue) in a region holding 84% of China's rare earth reserves — processing grassland and minerals for the national economy.TongliaoPop. 2.8MTongliao's 2.78 million residents grow 19.41 billion jin of grain and keep 3.955 million cattle, turning the Horqin belt into a feed-conversion engine.BaotouPop. 2.1MRare earth keystone species where the world's green technology depends on the world's dirtiest processing — a strangler fig that grew around iron mining until the parasite became the global supply chain's structural support.HulunbuirPop. 2.1MHulunbuir's 2.14 million residents, eight border ports, and 11.0 million tonnes of five-month cargo make this 'city' a northern frontier network, not a single town.WuhaiPop. 557KA desert city of 557,300 produces 50.25 million tonnes of coal, but Wuhai's decisive input is water, with 33.73 million cubic metres reallocated through water-rights trades.UlanqabPop. 550KA city of 550,231, Ulanqab turned cold air and cheap renewable power into a 56-data-center computing habitat for eastern China.ChifengPop. 347KChifeng's 346,654 urban residents coordinate a 4.32 million-person prefecture, turning 90,000 square kilometres of farms, prairie and mines into a dryland allocation problem.Ordos CityMongolian desert herding settlement that became China's richest city per capita when coal was discovered. Built a new district for 1 million—labeled the world's biggest ghost city. By 2024, Kangbashi reached 130,000 residents. Pivoting to clean energy.