Race for medals heats up on last day of 47th WorldSkills Competition

At the final day of the 47th WorldSkills Competition in the French city of Lyon, the race for medals heated up, with participants from roughly 70 nations showing their mettle.

Formerly known as the International Vocational Training Organization, WorldSkills is an international charity, which organizes national championships for vocational skills. Every two years, the organization hosts a competition, attracting competitors from around the world.

This year's competition ran from Wednesday to Saturday, with the closing ceremony on Sunday. The event brought together approximately 1,400 participants from nearly 70 countries and regions to compete in 59 skill categories spanning vocations ranging from artwork to welding.

China sent 68 participants to participated in 59 different disciplines.

Teams say it is a collaborative environment, but winning gold can help make their professional career's sparkle.

"I think it's for their career, for the whole of their life. And then they can join this field and they can have a very good start of their journey, their life," said Zou Ningxin, a jewelry expert of Team China.

Medals may be up for the grabs but the goal of the biannual Workskills Expo is also for crowds here to draw inspiration.

This event is designed to give people a little taste of different parts of the working world and what ingredients are needed to be successful in a chosen career.

The expo also gives delegations the opportunity to learn from one another.

"They're able to come here and see how they match up against other countries. It's a benchmarking system as well as an individual assessment of the competitors who are representing their nation," said Shawna Bourke, director of Marketing and Communications of the WorldSkills International.

This biannual event is seen as an opportunity to try and address shared problems like water pollution.

"Urban water sewage treatment and industrial water reuse are the fundamental ways to solve this problem. So water technology is very important today," said Wang Zhan, water technology expert of Team China.

Several days of tough competition culminates in a medal ceremony. And the hope is that these competitors will inspire a new generation of skilled workers to come out of the woodwork.

Shanghai is scheduled to play host to the competition's 48th edition in September 2026.

Race for medals heats up on last day of 47th WorldSkills Competition

China's sharp countermeasures against U.S. "reciprocal tariffs" demonstrate the country's zero tolerance towards actions that undermine the global multilateral trading system, according to an expert.

Amid widespread opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs", imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" on all imported goods and higher rates on certain trading partners. The order took effect from Saturday.

For China, it faces a 34-percent tariff from the United States. That was on top of the existing tariff of 20 percent.

Following the U.S. decision to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on Chinese exports to the United States, China's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said Friday that the move taken by the U.S. does not conform to international trade rules, seriously undermines China's legitimate rights and interests, and represents a typical act of unilateral bullying.

It also announced that China will impose additional 34-percent tariffs on all products imported from the United States starting from April 10.

Wang Yaojing, assistant professor of economics with Peking University, pointed out that China's countermeasures shows its clear stance in opposing unilateralism and protectionism.

"China's countermeasures clearly demonstrate zero tolerance against actions that seek to undermine the global multilateral trading ecosystem. These harmful moves have far-reaching consequences for the global economy. And China's countermeasures are both well-prepared and timely," Wang emphasized.

China’s countermeasures show zero tolerance towards US unilateralism, protectionism: expert