Guangxi's key metal industry seeks transformation. Academicians suggest deepening China-ASEAN cross-border industrial chain collaboration

China News Service, Nanning, November 10th (Zhang Guangquan, Zhou Limei) Zhihui Bagui·Guangxi trip for academicians and experts in the field of non-ferrous metals and critical metal materials was held in Nanning, Guangxi on the 9th. Several participating academicians said here that Guangxi should rely on its unique location and key metal resource endowment facing ASEAN to promote the transformation of the industry from "selling resources" to "selling materials" and deepen regional cross-border industrial chain collaboration.

Pictured is the event site. Photo by Zhou Limei

Guangxi is known as the “Hometown of Non-ferrous Metals”. Official data shows that the output value of Guangxi's nonferrous metals industry above designated size will exceed 460 billion yuan in 2025. Currently, Guangxi has issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Innovation and Development of Guangxi's Critical Metal Industry", which proposes to build the Beibu Gulf (Guangxi) national critical metal industry cluster by 2030 and create a national critical metal advanced manufacturing cluster.

Liu Jiongtian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out in his speech that Guangxi is adjacent to Southeast Asia and is highly complementary to the mineral resources of Southeast Asia. It has formed a bulk non-ferrous smelting and processing industry cluster relying on overseas resources. He suggested that Guangxi’s unique advantages of gallium, indium, germanium, antimony and other scattered metals should be used as an incision to build a cross-regional and cross-border key metal industry cluster with an international leading and demonstration role, and consolidate the "ASEAN resource development-China resource deep processing" industrial pattern.

Ge Shirong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that relying on the Beibu Gulf Port and the mainland canal, facing the ASEAN resource market, it is convenient to build an industrial chain that introduces overseas resources, local processing and transformation, and opens up domestic and foreign markets, opening up internal and external circulation channels for resources. He suggested building a key metal warehousing and trading platform to enhance the voice of the specialty small metal market.

Qian Feng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, suggested that relying on the open cooperation layout of Nandan Key Metals Experimental Zone, Baise Ecological Aluminum Industry and Beibu Gulf, integrate new elements such as industrial data and model algorithms with traditional elements such as resources, energy, production capacity, and logistics, explore cross-enterprise collaborative decision-making and optimal allocation of raw material supply, smelting processing, high-end manufacturing and recycling, and transform Guangxi's location advantages into competitive advantages in the industrial chain and supply chain.

There were 12 contracted projects at this event, covering key metal varieties such as antimony, germanium, indium, aluminum, rare earths, etc., covering various forms such as academician teamwork, school-enterprise co-construction of R&D platforms, and pilot bases for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. (over)