WORLDSKILLED workers are com­peting in contests at China’s first international skill competition, being held in Shanghai, with 21 different skills from industrial milling to hairdressing on show.

A total of 227 skilled workers aged under 22 from 35 countries and regions attended the competi­tion. The finals will be announced tonight. China organized the event in preparation for Shanghai’s hope of hosting of the 46th WorldSkills Competition in 2021.

Winners of the China competi­tion are eligible to enter this year’s WorldSkills Competition to be held in October in Abu Dhabi.

Zheng Tong, head of the expert panel for the mobile robot control skill competition group, said con­testants needed to control robots putting medicine on shelves, which required knowledge of mechanical structure, automation control and computer programming.

In addition to machinery control, auto repair, milling, welding and network wiring, hairdressing, as well as beauty parlor and restau­rant service skills were among the competition programs.

Ji Zhenglong, a member of a hair­dressing team, said contestants were only given 15 minutes to cre­ate a hairstyle. “Hairdressers are skilled artisans. The work requires skill and aesthetic abilities.”

Simon Bartley, president of WorldSkills International, said that the competition demonstrated to parents, teachers, educators and employers that there was “real value” in technique skills.

“Countries and regions that only rely on university education cannot thrive in today’s global economy ... Hosting the competition really makes sure young people have a real opportunity to make the best decision they can about their fu­ture,” Bartley said.

Zhang Zhikun, 22, winner of the digital-controlled milling com­petition at the 43rd WorldSkills Competition in 2015, said he was lucky that his parents did not give up on him, when he failed to go to senior high school. Zhang, from Guangdong, chose to go to an ad­vanced mechanical skill school.

He won the championship in Brazil by operating milling de­vices to process precision machine parts with an error rate under 0.04 millimeters.

“Senior skilled workers account for 40 percent of all industrial workers in Japan and 50 percent in Germany, but the ratio is only 5 per­cent in China,” said Li Shouzhen, of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. China is short of 10 million skilled workers, he said.

“In industry, a sound talent structure should be made up of one scientist, 10 technicians and 100 skilled workers,” said Chen Yu of the China Association of Employ­ment Promotion.

“China has top scientists ... but in manufacturing sectors, such as watches, automobile and machinery, the quality of China-made products still lags behind those of developed Western countries,” said Feng Wei­yuan, director of the Guangdong Institute of Mechanics.

“It is ultimately skilled workers who decide the quality of China-made products,” Feng added.