Shanghai kicked off its second city-wide vocational skills contest on 22 March. The city is gearing up to host the 48th WorldSkills Competition next year.

The second Shanghai Skills Competition, held by the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and the Qingpu District government, will run till the end of May and see about 1,000 Competitors from companies, associations, and schools compete in 101 skill categories. Winners will have the opportunity to represent Shanghai at the third National Vocational Skills Competition in September in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, where some of them will also vie for a chance to take part in next year’s WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai.

The skills are in line with the city’s key industrial development, such as Industry 4.0 and autonomous mobile robotics.

At last year’s 47th WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France, teachers Lu Junwei and Xie Huiyuan from the Shanghai Technology and Innovation Vocational College won the gold medal in Industry 4.0 and earned the covetedAlbert Vidal Award as the top scorers at the event.

“Industry 4.0 requires a wide range of skills, such as mechanics, electrics, automations and computer knowledge,” said Chief Expert Yuan Hairong from China during WorldSkills Competition 2024. “This category is important as it represents one of the key industries in Shanghai – smart manufacturing.”

“With the development of intelligent manufacturing, there is an increasing demand for such talent. Events like skills competitions can help improve the capabilities of  younger generations and thus promote the development of smart manufacturing industries.”

Autonomous mobile robotics was another spotlight at the Competition, which required teams of two members to develop and code robots to do tasks in a simulated fruit ranch. They needed to recognize and pick fruits and deliver them to designated locations, while detouring around obstacles.

The Shanghai Information Technology College had a team of two students under 18 compete in the event.

“Vocational education is an essential part of our education system, opening up diversified possibilities for students,” said Ge Rui, principal of the vocational college. “Skills competitions like this can not only improve their skills, but also confidence. Vocational school students are not inferior to others. They can also be recognized on national or even world stages.”

Ge said there would be a high demand for service robots in various sectors, such as the senior care industry, and he is optimistic about the employment prospects of students majoring in robotics.