48th WorldSkills Competition opens with showcase of young global talent

The 48th WorldSkills Competition opening ceremony was designed around green, frugal, and safety-first core principles to deliver a globally inclusive showcase of young vocational talent, the director of the event's opening ceremony said during post-event interviews on Tuesday night.

Hou Jie, opening ceremony director for the 48th WorldSkills Competition, said that the production started in early 2024, aiming for a celebration that bridges traditional craft heritage and cutting-edge technological progress.

"Youth is the central theme of all of our productions," she said.

Staged at the Shanghai World Expo Cultural Center, the ceremony kicked off with a lively parade of international competitors.

Delegations of young skilled participants from across the globe marched along the indoor-outdoor "Skill Dream Avenue", greeting on-site spectators before entering the main performance venue.

Structured into three thematic chapters — "Light of Civilization", "Light of Skills", and "Light of the Future" — the show traced the full evolution of global craftsmanship, spanning ancient Chinese craft pioneers and worldwide industrial revolutions.

The "Light of Civilization" chapter merged time-honored Silk Road culture and traditional Chinese craftsmanship with modern multimedia and AI-driven stage technology, she said.

The "Light of Skills" chapter centered genuine firsthand stories from five amateur young skilled workers representing five continents, illustrating how vocational skills empower life transformation.

"It was a big risk for our team," Hou said. "We handed the whole second chapter over to five ordinary young skilled talents from five continents, letting them share their raw, authentic personal journeys."

The "Light of the Future" chapter featured a futuristic performance of coordinated humanoid robot dancing, paired with human performers to underline human creativity as the core of technological advancement.

A recurring yellow energy cube — inspired by China's ancient mortise and tenon craft — served as the core symbolic visual, representing cross-border connection among global youth talents, Hou said.