A contestant participates in the beauty therapy event during the 48th WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai on September 24, 2026. Photo: Xinhua News Agency

China topped the gold medal table at the 48th WorldSkills Competition, which concluded in Shanghai on Sunday, with the Chinese delegation winning 41 gold medals and marking the fifth consecutive edition in which the country has ranked first in gold medals, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. 

Beyond the medals, WorldSkills standards are increasingly moving from the competition floor into classrooms and industrial training, helping shape a longer-term mechanism for skilled talent development in China, China National Radio (CNR) reported on Sunday. 

A total of 1,385 competitors from 68 countries and regions vied in 64 skill events. China had sent 71 competitors to participate in all 64 events, covering six sectors: transportation and logistics, construction and building technology, manufacturing and engineering technology, information and communication technology, creative arts and fashion, and social and personal services, according to organizers.

Standards developed for the competition are increasingly being incorporated into vocational education and industrial training. In hotel reception, for example, competitors are assessed against more than 400 criteria covering communication, work organization, financial skills and other areas, said Hu Xiao, leader of the Chinese technical expert team for the skill, CNR reported. 

Hu said the goal is to turn international competition standards into curriculum, industry training standards and vocational assessment benchmarks, using competition as a starting point to support broader professional development.

That process is already underway. A team led by Jiang Hong, dean of the school of hotel management at Shanghai Business School, has been turning training procedures, simulated scenarios and competition standards into teaching materials. An originally English-language training resource has also been developed into a bilingual Chinese-English version and shared with vocational institutions in different parts of China.

The approach is also extending to emerging industries. Chen Jie, a vice mayor of Shanghai and deputy director of the organizing committee of the event, said the municipality has launched training programs in areas including AI data annotation and model application based on companies' demand for skilled workers, with curricula and assessment systems benchmarked against WorldSkills standards.

Global Times