Recently, the rare earth international standard “Rare Earths — Determination of Moisture Content in Rare Earth Products — Gravimetric Method” (ISO 24548:2025), led by the Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earths, was officially released, marking another major breakthrough for Baotou in the domain of rare earth international standardization.
The right to formulate international standards has become the commanding height of industrial competition. For a long time, the international rare earth industry has suffered from issues such as inconsistent terminology and testing methods, which have restricted international trade and technical cooperation. The Baotou City Administration for Market Regulation has actively promoted leading enterprises and scientific research institutions such as China Northern Rare Earth and Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earths to systematically layout international standard development work. To date, seven international standards in the rare earth field led or participated in by Baotou City have been successfully released, covering core areas such as rare earth terminology, product testing, and waste recycling. These account for nearly half of all released rare earth international standards, signifying a further enhancement of our city’s voice and influence in global rare earth industry international standard formulation.
These seven international standards are of great significance for standardizing basic terminology for naming rare earth mineral products, metals, and alloys, as well as key testing methods such as moisture determination in rare earth products. They not only transform the mature technical experience of Baotou’s rare earth industry into globally accepted norms but also convert Chinese rare earth standard wisdom into a driving force for industrial development, providing a “Chinese solution” for the standardized development of the global rare earth industry.
From resource reserves to industrial scale and now to standard formulation, Baotou’s rare earth sector is undergoing a profound transformation. The Baotou City Administration for Market Regulation will fully implement the spirit of the 10th Plenary Session of the 13th Municipal Party Committee, closely focus on the “1144” modern industrial system construction deployment, continue to target the core needs of high-quality development of the rare earth industry, support more key enterprises and institutions to deeply participate in international standard development, accelerate the construction of a standards system covering the entire rare earth industry chain with international influence, and strive to push forward the construction of Baotou’s “two rare earth bases” to a higher level.
Source: Baotou City Administration for Market Regulation
