China's education ministry selects 914 high-quality courses for online vocational training
China's Ministry of Education on Monday released a list of high-quality online courses for vocational training for 2023 featuring 914 courses, including cutting-edge topics, such as intelligent robot assembly and commissioning, new-energy vehicles (NEVs) technology, fundamentals of drone technology, the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, among others across various sectors.
As the country has been stepping up efforts to advance high-tech development and foster new quality productive forces, responsible authorities and Chinese localities have also been implementing supportive measures targeting the growing market demand.
In 2024, Chinese enterprises have seen a growing demand for talent in the digital intelligence sector at work, with 45.1 percent of surveyed enterprises seeking internet talent, 29.3 percent focusing on big data professionals and 26.7 percent of surveyed companies emphasizing AI expertise, according to the 2024 Employment Relationship Trends Report sent to the Global Times by recruiting platform Zhaopin.com on Monday.
For instance, specialized training for low-altitude economy roles has been held every two weeks in Yanqing district in Beijing, as more than 100 drone companies have been clustering and developing there, leading to a shortage of relevant talent professionals. Through professional training programs for job seekers, more than 400 job seekers have started working in the field, China Media Group reported on Sunday.
On December 4, Shanghai announced supportive measures targeting skilled personnel in key industrial fields. For new skills in short supply that are not yet covered by the national occupational standards, Shanghai is among the first to pilot the development of a special vocational competency evaluation program for data labeling and model use in the AI field, with a supporting certificate of special vocational competency and a corresponding upgrading subsidy standard of 1,000 yuan ($137.60).
China has boosted the education of people with skills related to new quality productive forces, with over 70 percent of new frontline workers in modern manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, and modern services now graduates of vocational school, the Xinhua News Agency reported in November, citing the Report on the Development of Vocational Education.
At present, there are more than 200 million skilled workers in China, including over 60 million highly skilled individuals, according to the CMG report. On average, more than 2,500 technical institutes across the country produce close to one million skilled workers annually, strongly supporting the country's economic and social development.