China News Service, Shanghai, September 23. Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Skills Conference in Shanghai on the morning of September 23 and delivered a speech.
Li Qiang said that skills have always been an important force in promoting the progress of human civilization. In his congratulatory letter to the 48th World Skills Competition, President Xi Jinping fully affirmed the role of the competition as a platform for global skills exchange and cooperation, and clarified China's clear attitude in supporting the development of world skills sports. The theme of this conference is "Skills illuminate the future", which is in line with the development pulse of the times. Let me share some experiences based on China’s practice.
First, China’s development achievements contain outstanding technical contributions. In the continuous improvement of the level of social productivity, there is a solid support of skills. Currently, China is building a modern industrial system, and the two-way promotion of talents and technology is injecting continuous power into high-quality development. In the continuation of excellent traditional culture, there are skills to protect and inherit. Traditional Chinese skills have been passed down from generation to generation, and many of them have been exported to the world, which not only empowers talent training and industrial development in various countries, but also promotes the interconnection of civilizations and the integration of cultures. Skilled people help lift people on their way to creating a better life. Through large-scale skills training, more and more ordinary workers have higher skills and more career choices.
Second, China has always been committed to cultivating the skill advantages of its workers. We focus on the in-depth integration of industries and skills. In the future, we will closely follow the needs of industrial development, further promote the integration of industry and education, school-enterprise cooperation, and improve the pertinence and effectiveness of skilled talent training. We focus on strengthening lifelong vocational education and training. In the future, we will continue to improve the education and training system to support more workers to continue to "recharge" in their careers. We pay attention to the social trend of cultivating skills to become talents. In the future, we will continue to create a strong atmosphere of advocating skills and encourage more young people to love and devote themselves to skills.
Third, work together to create a bright future for skills development. The new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation have profoundly reshaped the demand for skills. All parties should adapt to the current situation, work closely together, and strive to improve the level of global skills development. It is necessary to develop skills that are more relevant to people's livelihood, increase investment in manpower, actively carry out general education on artificial intelligence, help workers achieve skills transformation, and promote high-quality and full employment. It is necessary to develop skills with more innovative vitality, proactively plan the training of high-skilled talents, improve the skills development mechanism in emerging fields, and encourage and guide more skilled talents to participate in innovative activities. It is necessary to develop more open and inclusive skills, establish a closer international skills exchange and cooperation mechanism, and jointly build an open skills ecosystem. China is willing to work with all parties to promote the establishment of a world skills innovation center and expand South-South cooperation in skills development along the Belt and Road Initiative.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar, Chairman of WorldSkills Organization Udhan and others attended the opening ceremony and said in their speeches that the Chinese government has long been deeply engaged in the construction of skilled talents, effectively empowered economic and social development, and also made important contributions to promoting global skills and youth development. Skills development has become a priority for governments of various countries. All parties are willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with China and make skills an important link to achieve win-win cooperation. About 1,900 representatives from all walks of life around the world attended the opening ceremony.
Before the opening ceremony, Li Qiang visited the World Skills Expo.
Chen Jining, Wu Zhenglong and Chen Yiqin participated in the above activities.
