China is Building ‘Full-Stack’ Defense-Innovation Cities

Article/Op-Ed in The China Intelligence/Defense One
Cancan Chu/Getty Images
Jan. 22, 2026

New America Senior Fellow Peter W. Singer wrote with Tye Graham on China's defense innovation cities:

The city of Baotou—long the heart of the rare-earths mining sector that has given China a stranglehold over the modern economy—is now working to establish entire next-generation production chains. In Inner Mongolia’s second-largest city, processed ores flow quickly to factories that make magnets and motors, and onward to production lines that crank out drones, eVTOL aircraft, and even humanoid robots. The result is an industrial powerhouse that other Chinese cities are working to emulate—and that U.S. firms are unable to match.

Read the full article here.