China tops medal tally as skills contest ends

WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 has helped to advance global skills development by demonstrating state-of-the-art industry standards and further elevating the importance of vocational education, experts and competitors said on Sunday as the six-day competition drew to a close.

Competing across all 64 skills, China's 71 competitors won 41 gold medals, 11 silver medals and four bronze medals this year, topping the medal table for the fifth consecutive time.

He Xiaoman, a gold medalist in rail vehicle technology, won the Albert Vidal Award for the highest overall score across all skills.

While China's large population has contributed toward the building of a vast pool of skilled talent, Francis Hourant, president of WorldSkills International, attributed the country's success more to the cornerstone role of skills in technical and vocational education and training. The government's continued investment in and commitment to vocational education have helped raise the overall skill standards, he said.

Zeng Chen, 22, a teacher from Hangzhou Technician Institute in Zhejiang province, won a gold medal in unmanned aerial systems skill, one of the seven new skills to be introduced in the Shanghai event. The competition stressed the practical industrial application of drones, which can be widely used in sectors such as warehousing and logistics management, he said.

Zhang Xiaorui, 22, a student at Shandong Industrial Technician College and a bronze medal winner in plumbing and heating skill, said the world-class criteria set for the competition were extremely exacting, helping him to better identify the gaps and weaknesses in his skills.

Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, said China's experience shows what can be achieved when international benchmarks support national skills development.

"The future will belong to societies that can combine knowledge with know-how, ideas with execution and innovation with the human capacity to make things work," he said.

Abraham Mundengo, a Zambian representative from WorldSkills Champions Trust, a volunteer group of past competitors, said the competition will help to replicate China's experience in Africa in terms of integrating vocational education with industries.

The competition has yielded a number of outcomes that will benefit industries over the long term. World-Skills Vision 2035 was approved during this year's competition to set a road map to transform how the world values skills, accelerate global skills development through innovation and to deliver more economic and social impact through the organization's membership.

Also released during this year's event was the WorldSkills Conference 2026 Shanghai Declaration, which carries the spirit of "investing in people, raising the value and visibility of skills, and making sure every young person has the chance to build their future through them", said David Hoey, CEO of WorldSkills International.

While this year's competition has ended, its benefits are just beginning to unfold, said Chen Yujie, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security.

"The adoption and localization of standards will drive talent cultivation reform while helping companies optimize processes and improve product quality against advanced benchmarks," she said.

Contact the writers at shijing@chinadaily.com.cn