(by Professor Zheng Changzhong during the journey from Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Museum to Zhejiang Polytechnic University of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering on May 25, 2025)
Hello, dear journalists!
We are now traveling from the Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Museum to Zhejiang Polytechnic University of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. As one of China’s 83 vocational universities at the undergraduate level, this institution specializes in cultivating high-level vocational talent. For those unfamiliar with China’s vocational education system, I’d like to use this drive to elaborate on both this university and the broader vocational education framework it represents.
China’s vocational education is divided into secondary and higher levels, with nearly 7,000 secondary vocational schools and approximately 1,600 higher vocational colleges nationwide. These institutions collaborate to form a massive talent cultivation network, delivering specialized technical personnel to various industries. Take manufacturing, for example: many workers, from assembly line operators to R&D engineers, graduate from vocational colleges. In Shenzhen, over 60% of technical workers in the electronic information industry are targeted-trained through the vocational education system, illustrating its critical role in China’s industrial development.
Vocational education constitutes a vital part of China’s national education system and human resources development. In the new era, the Chinese government has increasingly prioritized vocational education, positioning it at the core of economic and social development as well as educational reform. Through long-term exploration, China has established a distinctive modern vocational education model, continuously enhancing policy support, innovating institutional design, and accelerating the construction of a modern vocational education system.
In terms of educational models, modern Chinese vocational education has evolved from traditional apprenticeship systems to large-scale, systematic school-based education. Its core training methods combine in-class curriculum learning with school-enterprise cooperation projects, retaining the practical advantages of “master-apprentice inheritance” while integrating modern classroom instruction. For instance, Zhejiang Polytechnic University of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering offers majors in intelligent manufacturing and new energy technology. After studying theoretical knowledge like mechanical principles and programming in classrooms, students enter training workshops equipped with advanced facilities such as industrial robots and 3D printing equipment, where experienced technicians guide their hands-on practice. The university also collaborates with leading enterprises like Geely Automobile to develop joint curricula, introducing real corporate projects into classrooms and enabling students to engage with cutting-edge industry technologies while still in school.
China’s vocational education closely aligns with market and production needs, achieving remarkable results through innovative training models. In the enterprise-led model, students spend their first year studying basic courses on campus before entering partner enterprises, where frontline engineers and senior technicians provide practical training. Graduates are immediately job-ready, making them highly sought after by employers. Statistics show that the employment rate of students trained through school-enterprise cooperation exceeds 95%, with popular majors even seeing enterprises “pre-order” graduates in advance.
During a visit to XCMG Group, a renowned Chinese heavy machinery enterprise, I witnessed a representative “vocational school + enterprise” dual-cultivation system. The company operates the Xuzhou Construction Machinery Technician College, which collaborates with the enterprise to offer students real-project participation and exposure to cutting-edge technologies through six platforms, including on-the-job training and overseas further study. This model has nurtured many technical experts who have won awards in skills competitions while delivering a large pool of talent to the enterprise, achieving deep resonance between vocational education and industrial development.
Moreover, China has not only a robust technical worker training system but also a specialized engineer training system. These two systems operate in tandem to cultivate a large, highly skilled talent workforce. In high-speed rail manufacturing, from car body design to power system R&D, engineers and technicians trained through vocational education play indispensable roles. Nearly 40% of the engineer team at CRRC Corporation graduated from vocational undergraduate institutions. Using their expertise, they have overcome technical challenges such as high-speed train vibration and noise reduction, helping Chinese high-speed rail become a “national calling card.” This talent workforce provides key support for China’s status as the world’s largest industrial manufacturer, ensuring both production volume and quality while maintaining competitiveness in labor costs—laying the foundation for the international reputation of Chinese products as “high-quality and affordable.”
We are approaching Zhejiang Polytechnic University of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Upon arrival, the university will guide you on a tour of its training centers and school-enterprise cooperation laboratories, with more detailed explanations. I believe this on-site visit will offer a more intuitive understanding of China’s vocational education achievements and how it drives industrial upgrading and economic development.
Thank you!
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.