Labor Skills key for Shanghai's Five-Year Plan

Holding a successful WorldSkills Competition is among the key tasks for Shanghai in the upcoming years, according to the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) released by the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau on Tuesday.

"It's an important decision made by the Chinese government to host the 46th WorldSkills Competition," said Zhao Yongfeng, director of the bureau and secretary-general of the WorldSkills 2022 organizing committee. "It's expected to enhance the exchange of skills between China and other countries and to promote skill development around the world."

With its slogan "Master Skills, Change the World," the event will promote craftsmanship, inspire young people to realize their dreams, help cultivate highly skilled talent, and facilitate economic recovery and development after the COVID-19 pandemic, said Zhao.

The event is set to take place in Shanghai from October 12 to 17 next year. It's also the first time for the Chinese mainland to host the world's top skills competition.

Zhao said preparations are well underway despite the influence of the pandemic.

"An overall layout has been designed with 11 venues in the National Convention & Exhibition Center, covering more than 300,000 square meters, to host the competition with 63 different skill categories, including nine newly added based on the latest vocational developments," said Zhao.

Plans for the WorldSkills Conference and the WorldSkills Expo, as well as other activities to be held during the competition, have also been made.

The WorldSkills Museum, a joint initiative of WorldSkills International, China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the Shanghai government, is being developed on the bank of Huangpu River, known as the "mother river of Shanghai." With 1,331 sets of exhibits collected from home and abroad, the setup will span six exhibition areas covering about 6,000 square meters.

More than 700 to-do lists and construction roadmaps have been made along with about 20 preparation solutions and contingency plans. The organizing committee has talked with more than 300 potential sponsors, 100 of whom have offered explicit sponsoring plans.

A series of activities have been organized to promote the competition. The WorldSkills flag was brought to the summit of Mount Everest on May 27 last year and to the Antarctic on January 19 this year, demonstrating the spirit of pursuing extreme excellence in craftsmanship.

A satellite named after the competition was launched last week, and a Consulate Engagement Event was organized to brief 40 consular officers in Shanghai from 30 countries on preparations for the competition.

The organizing committee is now working out a pandemic prevention and control plan for the competition that is expected to see more than 1,400 participants from at least 60 countries and regions.

"We will learn from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics organizing experience to work out a scheme for the Shanghai WorldSkills Competition to ensure the event is safe and successful," said Zhao.

He said the city will continue to collect exhibits for the WorldSkills Museum and invite professional teams to make exhibition arrangements.

"The museum will open to the public in October next year and welcome our citizens, especially young people, to experience its charm," he said.

Zhao said Shanghai will use the competition as an opportunity to enhance exchange with other countries and develop local vocational skills competition system to promote craftsmanship and inspire passion among laborers, building Shanghai a capital of skills in China and a center for the development of Chinese skilled talent.