China’s “Vocational Education Going Abroad” Draws a New Picture of International Cooperation

Xinhua News Agency, Tianjin, October 18th, Title: China’s “Vocational Education Going Abroad” draws a new picture of international cooperation

Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhang Yuqi and Li Yating

At the 2026 World Vocational School Skills Competition Championship Finals, a team composed of Zambia's Kafue Gorge Training School and Zhejiang Tongji Vocational College of Science and Technology applied artificial intelligence to the detection of cochlear implant gold coils, and won the third place in the competition through cooperation.

This competition closely follows the development trend of the global industry and has a total of 43 tracks including artificial intelligence and new generation information technology. The scale of overseas contestants has reached a record high. On the basis of Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa and Europe, the overseas competition area has added the Oceania competition area. A total of 9,391 teams and 36,000 players from 78 countries and regions on five continents participated in the finals.

The World Vocational College Skills Competition is a microcosm of China’s “going overseas” for vocational education. China has built the world's largest vocational education system, and is actively working with more and more countries to cultivate professional and technical talents, share China's practices, plans and experiences, so that the results of China's vocational education development can benefit more countries and people.

The "China Vocational Education White Paper" was released in Tianjin on October 17. The white paper shows that more than 300 vocational schools in China have carried out more than 500 vocational education cooperation projects in more than 80 countries and regions, forming a multi-level, multi-subject and multi-regional international cooperation pattern for vocational education.

In recent years, the "circle of friends" of China's vocational education has expanded - from the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Thailand to the edge of the desert in Egypt, from the training center in Kazakhstan to the engineering classroom in Portugal. More and more countries hope to "learn from" China's vocational education experience.

In March this year, 14 foreign students from Jobs College in Italy came to Tianjin Modern Vocational and Technical College to learn drone laws and regulations, equipment structure, basic flight, emergency rescue, geographical surveying and mapping, etc.

"Italy has a profound accumulation in the field of vocational education, and China is at the forefront of the world in the application of drone technology and the development of low-altitude economy." Maria Grazia Brati, head of international cooperation at Italy's Jobs Institute, said that this short-term study abroad program provides Italian students with a rare learning and exchange opportunity. She looks forward to continued cooperation between the two parties in the field of drone technology in the future.

"The biggest attraction of China's vocational education is that we adhere to the direction of integrating industry and education, facing industry, and serving employment. China has a huge industrial base, a complete professional system, and strong policy support at the national level. At the same time, we are rooted in the local area and focus on cultivating skilled talents at the same time as the development of the real economy. We can quickly cultivate technical and technical talents that the industry urgently needs. This is also an important reason why many countries are willing to cooperate with us in vocational education." said Zhang Ying, director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Department of Tianjin Modern Vocational and Technical College.

Luban Workshop is a “national business card” of China’s vocational education. In 2016, Tianjin built China’s first Luban Workshop abroad—Thailand Luban Workshop. According to data from the Ministry of Education, so far, China has built 38 Luban workshops in 32 countries, training more than 30,000 academic students and more than 160,000 non-academic students.

Tianjin Bohai Vocational and Technical College provided Thailand Luban Workshop with excellent teachers, advanced teaching equipment and generous scholarships for further study in China, making the partner Thailand Ayutthaya Technical College the "best" among local vocational and technical colleges in terms of hardware equipment, curriculum, teaching level, and teaching results.

In the past ten years, Thailand's Luban Workshop has completed three phases of construction, forming a "one workshop and two centers" construction model of "one Luban Workshop, including the Bohai Center and the Railway Academy Center". It has opened 6 international majors and all of them have been integrated into the Thai national education system.

On September 23, the 10th anniversary celebration of the construction of Luban Workshop in Thailand was held, and the world's first EPIP Engineering Technology Center was officially unveiled and launched. The four letters of EPIP stand for engineering, practice, innovation, and project respectively. Its essence is to allow students to learn by doing in real projects, focusing on cultivating the ability to solve practical problems.

"Luban Workshop is moving from version 1.0 to version 2.0." Mei Wentao, deputy director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Office of Tianjin Bohai Vocational and Technical College, has personally experienced the development of Luban Workshop for ten years and is deeply touched. "We not only cultivate talents for the local area, but also retain the entire set of things to truly integrate and promote local development."

Nicaragua is the first country in the Americas to establish a Luban workshop. It offers majors in Internet of Things application technology, electrical automation technology, mechatronics, machinery manufacturing and automation to help improve Nicaragua's production technology and industrial development level.

"We know that investing in youth training means investing in the competitiveness of our economy, the stability of society and the future of the African continent." said Mustafa Mohamed Mahmoud, Minister of National Education and Vocational Training of Djibouti. "The Djibouti Luban Workshop is far more than just a training center. It is a vivid symbol of Djibouti-my country friendship and a valuable investment in the future of our country's youth."