As China has boosted the education of people with skills related to new quality productive forces, over 70 percent of new frontline workers in modern manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, and modern services are now graduates of vocational schools, according to the Report on the Development of Vocational Education in China.

In 2021, the Ministry of Education revised the vocational major catalog to include more majors on strategic emerging industries, the modern service sector, digital transformation and rural revitalization.

In 2023, higher vocational schools introduced 1,266 new school locations offering majors related to strategic emerging industries, including next-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials and biotechnology, representing an 8.24-percent increase from the previous year and producing over 1.05 million graduates.

In addition, vocational education is also working with enterprises to solve front-line production problems. Vocational colleges have undertaken more than 2,700 state-level scientific research projects, and also provided technical services to enterprises through university-enterprise technical service platforms, with a cumulative amount of more than 9.1 billion yuan (over $1.25 billion). More than 7,000 patent achievements have been transferred to enterprises, involving more than 540 million yuan. 

As of 2023, China had over 11,000 vocational schools, including technical schools, with nearly 35 million students studying at these educational institutions, according to the Ministry of Education.

China has the largest vocational education system in the world. Vocational education closely focuses on the development needs of new quality productivity, optimizes professional settings, and lays a solid foundation for the development of new quality productivity with the supply of high-quality laborers.

(With inputs from Xinhua)