Baotou is a homonym of "Baoketu" in Mongolian, which means "a place with deer", also known as "Deer City". It is located in the west of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, bordering Mongolia in the north, the Yellow River in the south, and Tumochuan Plain and Hetao Plain in the east and west, which is an important hub connecting North China and Northwest China. It is a key development area for the country and Inner Mongolia to open up to the outside world. It, together with Hohhot and Ordos, constitutes the most dynamic advantageous region in Inner Mongolia.

A civilized and harmonious city. In 307 BC, King Wuling of Zhao State established Jiuyuan County in Baotou, Jiuyuan County in Qin Dynasty, and Wuyuan County in Western Han Dynasty. Baotou is the communication hub between the nomadic culture of the northern grassland and the farming culture of the Central Plains, which precipitates the thick grassland civilization. With the development of the city, the grassland style and industrial civilization complement each other, showing the unique style of the steel city and leisure city on the grassland. In 2005, it was among the first batch of Civilized Cities in China.

Modern industrial city. An industrial city that has gradually developed with the construction of national key projects, has the largest steel, aluminum, equipment manufacturing and rare earth processing enterprises in Inner Mongolia, and is an important energy, raw materials, rare earth, new coal chemical and equipment manufacturing base in the country and Inner Mongolia. Known as the "Steel City of Grassland" and "City of Rare Earth", it is one of the most suitable 20 cities for industrial development and one of the top 50 cities with the best investment environment in China. 

Science and technology innovation city. It has more than 180,000 professional and technical personnel, 64 national and autonomous regional research and development institutions, and 10 national and autonomous regional key laboratories. The world's largest 36,000 ton vertical extruder, the world's first methanol to low-carbon olefin equipment, 360 ton electric wheel mining vehicles, 100 meter high-speed heavy rail, the fourth generation nuclear power system high temperature gas cooled reactor nuclear fuel and other scientific and technological achievements have reached the international leading level, and it is one of the first batch of 20 innovative pilot cities in China.

An ecological and livable city. The Yellow River flows through the territory for 220 kilometers long, and a National Yellow River Wetland Park is under construction. The urban planning is sparse and spacious, the urban functions are perfect, and the living environment is beautiful. The urbanization rate has reached more than 80%, and the green coverage rate of the built-up area has reached 41%. The city structure of "One City, Two Towns, Three Clusters, and Belt-Shape Layout" has been formed, and the urban structure of "parks spread all over the place, forest encirclement, and green network connection" has been constructed, demonstrating the characteristic charm of "mountains and rivers, ecological and environmental protection".

Baotou has successively won the UN Habitat Award, the China Habitat Environment Example Award, the National Forest City, the National Garden City, the National Health City, the Third China Environment Award, the National Water and Soil Conservation and Ecological Environment Construction Demonstration City, China's Excellent Tourism City and other honors. Baotou's popularity and influence are growing.