Electricians compete in the first Yangquan Vocational Skills Competition, on Aug 20. [Photo/yqnews.com.cn]

The first vocational skills competition in Yangquan city in North China's Shanxi province was held on Aug 20-22, as part of a wider move to expand and improve the skill sets of locals and offer them training to help support the city's development.

A total of 1,148 contestants competed in 38 sub-competitions in eight categories involving new energy, equipment manufacturing, logistics, as well as services and agriculture sectors. 

Highly trained workers are who pass on technical skills, important promoters of industrial transformation and upgrading, and practitioners of innovation-driven development, according to the Yangquan human resources and social security bureau. 

In recent years, Yangquan has taken vocational skills improvement as an important springboard to spur entrepreneurship and innovation and increase employment, as well as the incomes of residents.

The city has been improving its overall training system and has established a training program which utilizes vocational and technical colleges, corporate training centers, public vocational training institutions and private training institutions.

Since 2018, the city has trained more than 50,000 people -- with quite a few becoming technical experts and the backbone for the transformation and development of the traditional and emerging industries. Officials said the number of skilled workers in the city has reached 151,700.