President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 48th WorldSkills Competition, which opened in Shanghai on Tuesday, pointing to how a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is reshaping vocational skills development worldwide, and reaffirming China's commitment to cultivating young skilled talent.
Xi: China ready to deepen exchanges
In the letter, Xi said China is ready to deepen exchanges and cooperation with all participating parties to advance global skills development, better contribute to world economic growth and improve people's livelihoods and well-being. He said the accelerating pace of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is bringing profound and far reaching changes to vocational skills development around the world. He said the WorldSkills Competition stays closely aligned with industry needs and offers skilled professionals from around the world a valuable platform to hone their craft and learn from one another, adding that China will work to inspire and guide more workers, especially young people, to build successful careers through professional skills.
An opening ceremony built around Skill Dream Avenue
Premier Li Qiang attended the event and formally declared the competition open. Before the ceremony, Li met with WorldSkills International President Francis Hourant and Chief Executive Officer David Hoey. The ceremony, held at the Shanghai World Expo Cultural Park, opened with a vivid, energetic parade as young competitors from around the world made their way along Skill Dream Avenue, an indoor-outdoor thoroughfare, greeting the crowd in an outdoor plaza before entering the venue. Live performances showcased China's deep craft heritage, blending reenactments of ancient Chinese skills with multimedia depictions of the Silk Road to link local and global skills traditions, while humanoid robots performed alongside human artists in a nod to the role human creativity still plays in driving technological progress. Young skilled workers from different continents also shared their own stories during the event, illustrating how vocational skills can change lives.
71 Chinese competitors, average age 21
The competition runs from Wednesday through Saturday at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, bringing together 1,385 competitors from 68 countries and regions, with the closing ceremony set for Sunday. China's delegation of 71 competitors, with an average age of 21, is competing across all 64 skill categories, reflecting the depth of the country's pool of young skilled talent. Since China's debut at the 2011 WorldSkills Competition in London, its competitors have won 93 gold medals and topped both the gold medal table and the overall team rankings at four consecutive editions of the competition.
At a news conference held before the ceremony, Zhai Tao, deputy director of the department of vocational capacity building at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said China joined WorldSkills International in 2010 as its 53rd member, and that the organization's membership has since grown to 90 countries and regions, reflecting rising global recognition of the importance of skills development. Wang Di, director of the WorldSkills Competition China (Shanghai) Research Center, said the competition is about more than technology alone, and is closely tied to clearly defined occupations.
