Qualifikation von Arbeitskräften für wirtschaftliche Wende Chinas steigern

Chinese workers need more skills for the country's economic pivot

Educational institutions to play key role with 'new quality productive forces'

• Author: Wei Li is a senior lecturer in international business at the University of Sydney Business School and a member of the university's China Studies Centre.

China's economic landscape is fraught with challenges, including failing property developers, debt-strapped local governments and weak consumer demand.

To sustain annual economic growth at the level of "around 5%," as targeted by Premier Li Qiang, the government is seeking to cultivate what it calls "new quality productive forces."

As part of this shift toward focusing on technological advancement and innovation, the government is prioritizing the development of strategic emerging industries including new energy, new materials, advanced manufacturing and electronic information.

Li himself has highlighted electric vehicles, solar panels and lithium batteries as areas for further attention. They also happen to be sectors in which China's exports have been growing rapidly.

In addition, the government last month launched an action plan to encourage companies to upgrade their existing industrial equipment with an eye toward raising investment in this area and bringing more advanced technologies into play.

To make the new economic strategy a success, China will need to further develop the skills of its workforce and bring about a closer alignment between educational programs and industry requirements.

This will involve not only reforming the educational system, but also ensuring continuous training to foster a more integrated approach between academia and industry.

Yet the connection between universities and industry in China remains relatively weak. Socially, there is a notable undervaluation of technical and vocational education.

While Chinese universities have recently started to emphasize internships and career guidance, there remains a significant gap in integrating practical skills training and industry-specific knowledge into academic and research frameworks.

This contrasts with Germany where a dual vocational education system effectively merges practical training with theoretical learning. As a result of this, over 40% of German adults complete a vocational program.

This robust model of education ensures close alignment with industry needs and effectively prepares students for the workforce. The German approach underlines the importance of practical experience and industry engagement in education in developing a skilled and employable workforce ready for the future.

Manufacturing skill development has received less attention in China. According to government figures, 17.3% of urban factory workers have graduated from college while the ratio for the overall urban workforce is 22.8%.

Yet the need for more advanced skills in China's manufacturing sector was already growing even before the new quality productive forces push. Companies are increasingly turning to industrial robots to automate production, reducing the need for low-skill line staff but increasing the need for the trained workers who can make sure output is consistent.

Private enterprises have a crucial role to play in addressing the development of a skilled workforce. They are typically more agile and innovation-driven than state-owned peers, which have traditionally dominated large-scale manufacturing and frequently relied on rigid, established production methods.

The agility of private companies will be critical for adapting to and implementing new technologies and processes essential for industrial upgrading.

Private enterprises also tend to be more responsive to market fluctuations. This often leads them to integrate cutting-edge technologies that boost productivity while also creating a need for new staff skills.

The responsiveness of private companies has made them essential drivers of broader economic change in China, including the strengthening of ties between universities and industry and the development of programs to train workers in new skills to handle the challenges of changing production methods.

China's ongoing green transition adds to the complexity of the workforce skills challenge it is facing.

Many of China's most energy-intensive sectors are found in industrial manufacturing. To realize the government's ambitious carbon neutrality plans, it is important to make sure workers are trained on sustainable practices and environmental management, not just technical skills.

In other words, Beijing has to ensure that economic progress does not come at the expense of sustainability. The adoption of energy-efficient technologies must be accompanied by workforce training so that workers can adapt to new production methods and techniques.

The prioritization of electric cars and solar panels will not get China on track to carbon neutrality unless the manufacturing of these products incorporates sustainable practices. Reducing the energy intensity of manufacturing necessarily involves aligning industrial upgrading with broader environmental objectives.

China's industry-upgrading strategy requires fostering environments that encourage private-sector innovation and reforming educational programs to be more responsive to the evolving demands of the job market. At the same time, it will be essential to align economic expansion with environmental sustainability to ensure that progress does not undermine ecological health.