Skilled youth vie for national team

Li Qiang, Party secretary of Shanghai, yesterday announced the opening of a competition to select Chinese candidates for next year’s WorldSkills event in Russia.

The competition will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) from today until Friday, and the results will be announced on Saturday.

There will be plenty of interactive activities for visitors at the center.

Zhang Jinan, minister for human resources and social security, said competitions are an effective way to spot talent and ensure that the excellent ones stand out.

He said the competition in Shanghai is the highest-level skills search ever to be held in China. It will follow the WorldSkills Competition format, with participants coming to Shanghai from all over the country to compete in various skills categories.

About 900 youngsters will compete for selection to the national team in 34 different skills categories. They will be tested, among others, for fixing aircraft fuselage, auto body repairs, hairdressing, furniture making and robotics.

Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, will also hold similar competition later this year to pick participants in other categories.

China will participate in 52 skills categories at the 45th WorldSkills Competition in Kazan, Russia, next year.

Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong said the competition was a dry run to test Shanghai’s ability in staging the 46th WorldSkills Competition in 2021.

Ying said he hoped the competition would help in promoting appreciation of skills and urged the public to learn from the craftsmen’s ability to achieve perfection.

These talented people will help in transforming the city into a global metropolis of excellence.

Simon Bartley, president of the WorldSkills International, said the world needs skills to achieve future prosperity and wished the participants well in the competition.

Earlier yesterday, the WorldSkills International signed two agreements with China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the city government of Shanghai.

The first agreement confirmed that the 46th competition, known as the Skills Olympics, will be held in Shanghai from September 22 to 27, 2021.

The second agreement involved building a museum near Yangpu Bridge in Yangpu District. It will be a permanent non-profit venue and will be free to the public.

The museum will be a center for showcasing world skills, an international platform for communication on skills, a skills education center for youth in the world, and a documentation center for the WorldSkills International.