Baotou
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Hohhot.

As a result of the growth of many branches of industry, including iron-smelting in particular, Baotou has become the economic center of Inner Mongolia. Together with Anshan, Wushan, Shanghai and Beijing it is one of China's major producers of steel.

People lived in this region back in the Tang dynasty (618-907), but only in recent centuries did it develop into a trading center. This development was accelerated by the construction of the rail link with Beijing in 1923, when it became the major trading hub of Mongolia and western China. Transport facilities were improved still further by the construction of the rail route to Lanzhou in the 1950s. Since then Baotou has become a center of the steel industry, which utilizes the rich iron-ore deposits found in Bayo Obo.