Abstract：In 2023, the Naiman trona deposit in Inner Mongolia was discovered, representing the secondlargest natural soda ash deposit in the world and the largest in Asia, with proven natural soda ash resources estimated at approximately 2.099 billion tons. This discovery presents a significant opportunity for the restructuring of China's soda ash industry. The global and domestic development status of natural soda ash was comprehensively reviewed, highlighting the necessity for China’s soda ash industry to significantly increase its reliance on natural soda ash in order to enhance its international competitiveness. Considering the distinctive geological characteristics and resource distribution of the Naiman trona deposit, characterized by high associated oil and gas reserves, co-occurrence with salt and soda, deep burial, and steep inclination, three major engineering challenges during the development process were posed. ① Hydrocarbons are enriched within the crystal lattices and fracture networks of trona and halite layers, as well as within the pore spaces and bedding fractures of the surrounding mudstone, resulting in severe oil emulsification during solution mining. ②Nearly half of the Naiman trona deposit is composed of low-to-moderate salinity trona, for which cost-effective and high-efficiency salt-soda separation technologies have yet to be developed.③ The engineering complexity of horizontal well construction is markedly increased by deep burial depth, steep formation dip, and the occurrence of funnel-shaped structural blocks. Future research should prioritize the development of high-performance and environmentally benign demulsifiers, the integrated and coordinated utilization of co-occurring salt and soda resources, and the high-precision horizontal well construction technologies enabled by multidisciplinary integration, thereby supporting the efficient and sustainable exploitation of the Naiman trona deposit.