Judging from his appearance, 23-year-old Ning Xianhai could easily be mistaken for a college student, but he is in fact a world champion in his trade.

In October 2017, Ning stepped onto the podium of the 44th WorldSkills Competition in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, having secured a gold medal for welding.

"I've put in six years of effort for today. After competing with international counterparts, I feel more confident about China's welding industry," Ning said on his social media account a few hours after receiving the honor.

At the Abu Dhabi skills Olympics, the Chinese team participated in 47 categories, winning a total of 15 gold medals, including Ning's. It was the best haul since China first started sending a delegation to the competition in 2011.

In recent years, China has been putting more emphasis on cultivating skilled workers as a major aspect of the Made in China 2025 strategy introduced in 2015, aimed at boosting innovation in the manufacturing industry and switching from low-end manufacturing to value-added production. The policy requires more highly-skilled industrial workers.

In January this year, a guideline for improving the treatment of skilled workers was adopted at the second meeting of the Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform of the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, confirming that incentives and reforms are to be introduced to improve the domestic environment for skilled workers.

The guideline dictates that the income of skilled workers will be elevated through an incentivized wage distribution system. Workers are also encouraged to attend vocational training, which can further improve their technical skills and lead to better pay. Policies on holiday entitlement are also earmarked for improvement.

Tang Tao, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, said at a press conference in March that managerial personnel aside, the key to implementing the Made in China 2025 strategy is professional and skilled workers, who can be the driving force to push the country's manufacturing sector higher up the value chain.

"China's front-line industrial workers, especially highly skilled ones, are a vital force," Tang said.

An unpopular choice

According to statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, by the end of 2017, there were 165 million skilled workers in China, accounting for 21.4 percent of the country's 770 million strong workforce. Among those, only 47 million are considered highly skilled workers, or employees who have passed national exams or attained professional qualifications.

Lu Guoquan, head of the Research Office of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, told Science and Technology Daily that both the quality and the quantity of skilled personnel need to increase.

New recruits are needed too, but hope does not always accord with reality. Based on surveys and research, Zhu Yongxin, Vice Chairman of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, one of the Chinese mainland's eight non-communist political parties, said that young people are reluctant to undertake industrial work for multiple reasons. Workers in the manufacturing industry are perceived as having a relatively unattractive wage and enduring harsh working environments, with fewer opportunities for promotion and low social status.

"I would rather be a courier than an industrial worker. They are both difficult jobs, but at least I think I can make more money in the delivery business," Xiao Qiu, a 22-year-old rural migrant currently living in Beijing, told Beijing Review.

Besides, the traditional mentality of placing more emphasis on academic achievements than practical and technical abilities is also a key reason that younger generations shun manual work, according to Li Shouzhen, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, who proposed a workforce of higher quality during the annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress and the CPPCC National Committee, commonly known as the Two Sessions in March.

At the institutional level, the present system of vocational education in China is struggling to adapt and cater to the changing demands of industries and the market, making it harder to train more quality skilled workers.

Lu believes that some state-owned companies have already begun investing more in training their employees because they understand the importance of cultivating skilled technical workers, while many private companies do not want to spend money on training. "When private companies need highly-skilled workers, they would rather pay a large amount of money to hire employees from other companies. However, those skilled workers won't stay long because the overall technical level of the company is low, which is not suitable for the development of their career," he added.

Elevated status

Zheng Que is a 35-year-old senior skilled worker at CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co. Ltd., a state-owned enterprise. His daily work consists of inspecting and repairing high-speed trains. After attaining a senior skilled worker certificate, he became a key figure at his workshop as the only employee able to solve certain problems.

However, with greater skill comes greater responsibility. During the peak season, it is the norm for Zheng to stay at work until 9 or 10 o'clock at night as well as on weekends. "I need to be 120 percent committed to my job or passengers on the train will be in danger," Zheng told Beijing Review. "During these periods, I can lose over 10 kg because of the heavy workload."

Yet Zheng's wage is not proportional to his hard work. He said that the senior skilled worker certificate only brings him an extra 40 yuan ($6.36) a month than before, and he still only earns around 5,000 yuan ($794.69) a month, below the city average of 5,989 yuan ($951.87) based on data released by Zhipin.com in March.

Zheng feels motivated by the impending release of the new policy. "This shows that the country is attributing more importance to skilled workers. I hope that the policy can be implemented as soon as possible so that we can start to see tangible benefits," he said.

Wang Gejun, a 49-year-old lathe machine operator at a private company echoed Zheng, describing the new policy as recognition for the toil of industrial workers as it states that the government will help workers gain a sense of honor and a higher social status by various methods.

Technical and technological innovation is also a key aspect of the guideline, with highly skilled workers encouraged to participate in national scientific research projects. The hope is that the number of these workers being recommended for national innovation awards will rise. The government also plans to create more opportunities for skilled workers to attend international exchanges and industrial exhibitions so as to learn from advanced practices around the world.

Tang said that the recent decision on improving the income and treatment of skilled workers will serve as motivation for them to perfect their trades. "If their skills are elevated, the quality of China's manufacturing and services will go up, too. It's a virtuous circle," he said.

Copyedited by Laurence Coulton

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