Development of rare earth industry

A few days ago, Yan Chunhua, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an academician of the Academy of Sciences of developing countries, and the president of Lanzhou University, and Gan Yong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering and director of the national new material industry development expert advisory committee, were interviewed by the reporter of Shanghai Securities News and discussed their views on the development of the rare earth industry. Yan Chunhua said that rare earths are very important to the development of new energy and other emerging industries. Gan Yong believes that Baotou will become the highland of the world's rare earth industry.

The development of new energy industry is inseparable from the application of rare earth

Yan Chunhua said that the physical and chemical properties of rare earths determine that they have a wide range of applications. They have unique applications in electrical, magnetic, acoustic, optical, thermal and other properties. For example, whether it is electric vehicles, wind power generation or UAVs, they all need power, rotation and translation, information detection and transmission, which are inseparable from the unique and irreplaceable basic properties of rare earths, such as electricity, magnetism and light. Therefore, from a macro perspective, rare earth is very important to these emerging industries.

From the distribution of downstream rare earth products, Yan Chunhua said that at present, magnetic materials are "leading the pack", the research and application of optical materials need to be breakthrough, and luminous and information materials have produced many characteristics. In the future, how to make downstream materials develop in a balanced way and how to make balanced use of elements will be one of the important topics of the rare earth industry.

Speaking of the supporting role of rare earths in the terminal industry, Yan Chunhua believed that we should not only attach importance to rare earths, but also develop non rare earth materials. "If you put all your eggs in the basket of rare earths, it is obvious that rare earths are extremely heavy. We should promote diversified development from the perspective of sustainable utilization of resources. Of course, rare earths will play a very important role in it."

Yan Chunhua said that rare earths are widely used and involve many new products and fields, which will bring many opportunities for innovative niche industries and small and micro enterprises. In the future, the policy should further deepen the precision support and strengthen the support for small and micro technology-based and innovative enterprises.

Baotou will become the highland of rare earth industry in the world

Gan Yong said that China attaches great importance to the development of the rare earth industry. In the past 10 years, China has restructured the rare earth industry, so that the level of environmental protection and resource utilization of the rare earth industry can meet the needs of the country. In recent years, the management of rare earth industry has been gradually standardized, and laws and regulations have been constantly improved. Rare earth is making greater and greater contributions to the development of various industrial fields.

Gan Yong believed that in recent years, China's rare earth science and technology level has been comprehensively improved. In the past, many rare earth original innovation patents and applications of high-end functional materials came from abroad. At present, China's rare earth industry is making a breakthrough. The technical indicators of rare earth industrial materials produced by Chinese enterprises are gradually approaching those of developed countries, and some have exceeded them.

In recent years, the development of Baotou, the "capital of rare earths", has attracted attention. It is reported that Baotou has formed a complete industrial chain of "rare earth raw ore mining - beneficiation - smelting - Separation - functional materials - terminal application" and a relatively complete industrial system from mining, smelting, processing to application, R & D and trade. It has achieved full coverage of rare earth functional materials and has a relatively complete technological innovation system in the field of rare earth.

Yan Chunhua said that the development of Baotou's rare earth industry shows a good trend. In the 1980s, Baotou rare earth industry ushered in a great development. After the 1990s, there was a period of metastable growth. At present, Baotou rare earth industry has entered a healthy, progressive, orderly and self-discipline development trend, which is an important sign of the convergence of rare earth technology in China and even the world. The rare earth industry chain also shows a agglomeration effect in Baotou, which is not only for rare earth materials, but also for many subsequent application end manufacturers.

Data show that in the first half of this year, Baotou's rare earth industry output value was 32.71 billion yuan, an increase of 111.4% year-on-year; The output value of rare earth new materials and application enterprises was 12.46 billion yuan, up 72.5% year on year. This year, Baotou's rare earth industry is expected to exceed 60 billion yuan and strive to achieve an output value of 100 billion yuan by 2025.

Gan Yong said that Baotou has the largest light rare earth reserves in the world, and the local rare earth industry has entered the fast lane of high-quality development. At present, Baotou has been very successful in attracting investment. More and more high-tech enterprises have entered Baotou, and the technology distribution categories of the rare earth industry chain are more and more complete.

"To achieve high-quality development of rare earth industry, the investment environment of enterprises must be constantly improved." Gan Yong said that the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government and Baotou municipal government have created a good ecological environment for cultivating the development of the rare earth industry. It is believed that in three to five years, Baotou will become the highland of the world's rare earth industry.

Source: Sohu