China's skilled workers impress on world stage

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By Cheng Si (China Daily) 16:19, February 26, 2025

Wang Wentao (left) and Zheng Piaoxue (center) learn how to measure the voltage of a new energy vehicle battery at a training center in Hefei, Anhui province, in December. The pair won a national competition on NEV maintenance in November. (Photo/Xinhua)

Winning gold in the computer numerical control (CNC) milling event at the 47th WorldSkills competition, held in Lyon, France, in September, is etched into the memory of 23-year-old Long Weijie, whose victory gave China its fifth consecutive gold in the event over the past decade.

Widely applied in daily life, CNC milling is used to shape metal and other solid materials to create products such as watches or even ship propellers.

"The competition imposes extremely strict requirements on precision and accuracy, with a permissible error range of just 0.02 of a millimeter — about a quarter of the diameter of a human hair," Long said. Working as a teacher at Guangdong Machinery Technician College Guangzhou, Long passes on his skills to domestic companies, helping them to improve and update their milling techniques.

Young Chinese handymen and women — usually aged under 25 — have shown the world their impressive skills and talent at WorldSkills, an initiative that rose out of the ruins of World War II in Europe when a huge skills shortage threatened economic depression.

At the 47th WorldSkills competition in Lyon last year, China won 36 golds, nine silvers, and four bronzes, topping the medal table.

The WorldSkills competition is held every two years. The Chinese mainland joined the organization in 2010 and has since sent seven delegations to compete.

Long and his peers are examples of young people in China who have dedicated themselves to honing their skills not just to take victory in competitions, but to pursue better career development and to pass down their craftsmanship to future generations.

Youthful enthusiasm

Zeng Xiaoan, 21, bronze winner of the health and social care event at the recent WorldSkills competition, said that taking nursing at university was thought of as a "worrying choice" by her parents because of the laborious work and perceived lower social status of being a nurse. She hopes her peers and her contributions can help change the public's stereotypical view of nursing.

Graduating from the School of Nursing and Health Management of Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2024, Zeng said she had heard some preconceptions about nursing work when she was at school.

"People have always said that nurses are assistants to doctors who just do the simplest things like giving injections or pills to the patients. But we are actually 'partners' of the doctor. The doctor diagnoses and we help perform treatment and care for the patient," she said, adding that the WorldSkills competition has turned her into a more considerate person with clearer career targets.

"The event for health and social care is much like nursing, while requiring other professional knowledge on recuperation, rehabilitation and promoting physical and psychosocial well-being. Language ability and communication skills are also of importance in the event," she said. "After the event, the people around me said that I'm totally different now, I'm much more soft, caring, and thoughtful. I was a bit introverted before taking part."

Zeng said that there is a great shortage of healthcare professionals in China and she intends to further her studies in social care and elderly nursing to gain more career possibilities.

For 23-year-old Wu Yanting, from Chongqing in Southwest China, becoming China's first female gold medalist in the 3D digital game art competition in Lyon was a dream come true. The event requires competitors to use their creativity, aesthetic ability, and geometry skills to design and construct a 3D model of a video game in 21 hours over four days.

"I was learning animation at Chongqing Technology and Business Institute in my first year of college, and then switched to game art design as my major. I'm very interested in video games and programming technology," she said. "I integrated elements of cute giant pandas into my game design to impress the judges.

"When I stepped on the podium with the national flag covering my shoulders, I let the world see not only myself but proactive young Chinese in high spirits," Wu said. She is now a teacher at the institute and plans to open a workshop designing and producing video games.

Jiang Jiajun, 22, from Guangdong province in South China, wishes to use his experience to show young Chinese people ways of leading a decent and fulfilling life. He and his partner Fang Canhao won the autonomous mobile robotics competition in Lyon.

"The competition was a way to learn more knowledge and skills and to prove myself. My hard work paid off," he said, adding that the public and many parents have negative impressions of vocational college, thinking that the students are just muddling along.