Briefly

BEIJING

Vocational schools important labor source

Vocational education institutions supplied more than 70 percent of China's newly employed frontline workers in modern manufacturing, modern services and strategic and emerging industries in the past five years, according to the Ministry of Education. Roughly 10 million technical and skilled personnel have been trained each year by the country's vocational colleges and schools, which offer programs in more than 1,200 specialties, according to the ministry at a news conference on Tuesday.

XINJIANG

Yutian airport expected to open on Dec 26

An airport in Yutian, a remote county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is slated to open on Dec 26, local authorities said. A successful test flight completed at the airport on Monday proves the airport's ability to operate passenger aircraft, according to Li Yigang, who is in charge of the airport's construction project. Yutian was a major stopping off point on the ancient Silk Road. Located in Hotan prefecture in southern Xinjiang, the county is more than 180 kilometers away from the nearest airport in the city of Hotan.

Xinhua