The ongoing 47th WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France, has set high requirements for contestants while providing a platform for the application of production technologies, said a coach from the Chinese delegation.
Formerly known as the International Vocational Training Organization, WorldSkills is an international charity that organizes national championships for vocational skills. Every two years, the organization hosts a competition, attracting competitors from around the world.
This year's competition is scheduled to run from Wednesday to Saturday. It features around 1,400 contestants competing in 59 skill categories across six major sectors such as Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, Creative Arts and Fashion, and Social and Personal Services.
China has sent a contingent of 68 competitors, comprising 58 men and 10 women, with an average age of 22. The participants are competing in all the skill categories, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
Tian Zhenji claimed a gold medal in the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling category at the 45th WorldSkills Competition in 2019. Now he is the coach for the Chinese team in the CNC milling category.
CNC Milling is a subtractive manufacturing process that uses computer-controlled machines to remove material from a block of raw substrate and shape it into a finished part.
Tian said this year's competition places higher demands on contestants.
"In the past, we needed to make just one part during the competition, but now we need to make more parts or make parts that are interconnected with each other. So we obviously feel the competition has become increasingly difficult as it requires us to produce parts featuring higher precision," said Tian Zhenji.
Like Tian, many people who won honor at the WorldSkills Competition have shouldered responsibilities of nurturing new contestants and helping them apply technologies into production.
"The number of skilled workers, especially skilled workers who have mastered a certain level of skills, is relatively low in many enterprises. Thanks to the platform provided by the WorldSkills Competition, we can align school training with factory production. We can help nurture students from China's vocational schools and sent more skilled talents to enterprises," said Tian.
47th WorldSkills Competition provides platform for technology application: Chinese coach
A survey released by CGTN to global netizens shows that respondents strongly condemn the U.S.'s unilateral bullying of other countries under the pretext of "reciprocal tariffs," saying that this move may trigger countermeasures from other countries and eventually evolve into a "tariff world war," seriously impacting the world economy.
The U.S. claims that it has suffered losses in international trade and is raising tariffs on all trading partners under the pretext of "reciprocity," aiming to reduce the trade deficit. However, 81.03 percent of global respondents do not agree with this, believing that such measures will not achieve the expected results. During his first term in office, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on major trading partners. According to statistics from the American Action Forum, a think tank, Trump's protectionist policies during the first term cost U.S. consumers about 57 billion U.S. dollars annually. According to the survey, 81.94 percent of respondents believe that "reciprocal tariffs" cannot solve U.S.'s own problems but will only harm the interests of U.S. consumers and drag down the U.S. economic growth.
The competitiveness of products from different countries varies. Each country can set appropriate tariffs based on its own products to achieve "mutual benefit" in the international market. The "tariff farce" of the U.S. side is a selective disregard for the balance of interests reached through multilateral trade negotiations. Some 82.8 percent of the respondents point out that in the context of unequal economic development and economic strength of different countries, the U.S. insistence on full and complete reciprocity in tariffs is extremely irrational.
The majority of the U.S. tariffs this time are targeted at developing countries. Regarding this, 82.96 percent of the respondents condemn the U.S. for conducting "indiscriminate attacks" on other countries on the issue of tariffs, believing that this is a deprivation of the development rights of other countries, especially developing countries. According to the survey, 84.43 percent of the respondents believe that the U.S.'s imposition of "reciprocal tariffs" will exacerbate the problem of trade unfairness with its trading partners and traditional allies, seriously damaging the country's credibility.
As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the U.S. has unilaterally and subjectively introduced so-called "reciprocal tariffs" and insisted on implementing them. This is a typical act of unilateral bullying. In response, 79.47 percent of the respondents criticize the U.S. for seriously violating the rules of the WTO. In the survey, 79.58 percent of the respondents say that "reciprocal tariffs" have become a new tool for the U.S. to promote trade protectionism, which will further intensify international trade tensions and global economic fragmentation.
This survey was released on CGTN's English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian platforms. Within 24 hours, a total of 9,600 overseas netizens participated in the survey and expressed their views.
CGTN poll: US 'reciprocal tariffs' draw condemnation from world
