China attends World's biggest trade skills competition opening ceremony

Members of the Chinese team attend the opening ceremony of the 43rd Worldskills in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug. 11, 2015. The 43rd Worldskills, the world's largest international skill competition, kicked off in Sao Paulo on Wednesday. More than 1,000 competitors would compete in 50 skill competitions. The Chinese team had 32 competitors to compete in 29 skills. [Photo: Xinhua/Xu Zijian]

More than 1,000 competitors from 60 countries are taking part in this year's WorldSkills competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The WorldSkills Competition occurs every two years and is the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world.

The Competitors represent the best of their peers and are selected from WorldSkills' Member countries and regions.

They will demonstrate technical abilities both individually and collectively to execute specific tasks for which they study and will perform in the future.

China formally joined the organization in 2010.

Zhang Lixin, who heads of the Chinese team, says the WorldSkills competition has great significance.

"The skills involved in this competition relate to both secondary and tertiary industries, especially manufacturing. So the competition may directly improve the ability of manufacturing related personnel and the quality of vocational education. Many countries, including China, have realized the positive role the competition plays in improving a country's manufacturing level."

China has sent 32 young competitors to attend 29 competitions. WorldSkill demands the competitors have to be under the age of 25.

Simon Bartley, President of WorldSkills, says youth is the focus of the competition.

"Young people are more than capable of improving our world with the power of skills. That message should be heard louder and clearer than ever before."

Chen Siliang, from a Senior Technical School in Chongqin, says he is fully prepared for the competition.

"When I was trained at the base station, I memorized all of the vital components of cars and I am very familiar with vehicle maintenance and repair. I am pretty confident I will have a good performance during the competition. "

During the next five days, competitors have to demonstrate individual and collective technical skills and simulate real work challenges according to international industry standards.

Zhang Lixin also claims that China aims to attract more attention in terms of vocational education and skills, as the competition is about more than just winning gold medals.

"WorldSkills can be compared to an Olympic Games in the field of skills. We hope society attaches great significance to the skilled talents at the event and they are seen as role models for young people. And it will help to lay a better foundation for the manufacturing industry in terms of skilled personnel."

This is the third time China has attended the WorldSkills competition.

WorldSkills Sao Paulo is open to the public from August 12th to 15th and approximately 200,000 visitors are expected to attend.