47th WorldSkills Competition provides platform for technology application: Chinese coach

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

China's total import and export volume of trade in sports services reached 52.89 billion yuan (about 7.45 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, said the State General Administration of Sport on Wednesday.

At a press conference in Beijing, Zhou Jinqiang, deputy director of the State General Administration of Sport, briefed on the achievements scored by China since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012.

China's sports sector has achieved high-quality development, with a widespread trend of fitness among the public, remarkable achievements in competitive sports, vibrant youth sports activities, and rapid growth in the sports industry, Zhou said, adding these advancements have contributed to building China into a leading sports nation.

"Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the total scale and added value of China's sports industry have significantly increased, with growth rates surpassing those of GDP during the same period. The proportion of the sports industry in the country's GDP has also continued to rise steadily," said Zhou.

"From 2012 to 2022, the annual average growth rate of the added value of the sports industry reached 15.4 percent, with its share of the domestic GDP increasing from 0.60 percent to 1.08 percent. In 2023, China's total import and export volume of trade in sports services stood at 52.89 billion yuan, marking a 178 percent increase compared to the previous year. At present, China has essentially forged a sports industry system that is led by competitive performances and fitness leisure, with the joint development of sports venue services, sports training, sports manufacturing, and sports media," said Zhou.

China's total trade in sports services reaches 52.89 bln yuan in 2023: official