Summary: 

Three Chinese ministries have jointly issued official “Guidelines for Manufacturing Talent Development and Planning", focusing on training and talent development in the manufacturing industry. The guidelines serve as an implementation of the education-related parts of the “Made in China 2025 strategy” announced in 2015.

The Guideline includes five key talent development projects: better integration between the manufacturing industry and the education sector; a development project for innovative and professional technicians; training and nurturing of skilled craftsmen and highly skilled personnel; the development of a high-level business management skills pool; and comprehensive quality improvement for all employees (including increasing government investment in relevant vocational education institutions and HEIs).

The Guideline also discusses reforms of the manufacturing industry talent supply structure. These include timely releases of talent demand forecasts as well as increased HEI enrolment in several key areas. These areas include electronic information, machinery, materials, marine engineering, bio-engineering, and aerospace at the bachelor’s degree level, and courses related to equipment manufacturing, electronic information, energy and chemical engineering, energy and engine power, and materials at the higher vocational diploma level.

The Guideline urges manufacturing enterprises to set aside 1.5% to 2.5% of total employee wages to fund training costs. Among current employees, the annual participation rate in employee education and training should exceed 50%.

Within the education sector, there are specific goals set for education at each level:

• Primary and secondary education: Strengthen the basic knowledge, ability and ideas of manufacturing through a more practical curriculum and general technical courses, and raise students’ awareness of quality management as part of in comprehensive education
• Vocational education: Focus on cultivating a “craftsman spirit”, help students establish lofty professional ideals and good professional ethics, and cultivate graduates with technical skills that are currently subject to shortages in the industry
• Undergraduate education (bachelor’s degrees): Focus on the model of developing HEIs of “applied technology”, develop first-class universities and disciplines related to manufacturing, strengthen the practical ability of engineering students, and create manufacturing-related colleges and universities that act as a "cradle for engineers"
• Postgraduate education: Strengthen joint PhD programmes between HEIs and scientific research institutes
• Continuing education: Promote the full coverage of training for all employees in manufacturing enterprises

In addition, the Guidelines emphasise nurturing professional and technical personnel in several specific fields: advanced design, key manufacturing processes, materials, digital modelling and simulation, industrial control and automation, industrial cloud services and large data applications.

According to the Guideline, in 2015, there are about 16,000 undergraduate engineering bachelor’s degree programmes at domestic HEIs, with a total of 5.25 million enrolled undergraduates and 690,000 postgraduates; about 6,000 relevant courses in higher vocational colleges (高职) with 1.36 million enrolled students; and about 11,000 relevant programmes in secondary vocational schools (中职) related to processing and manufacturing with 1.86 million enrolled students. There is a shortage of talent in the country’s manufacturing industry. Talent gaps in the information technology industry are estimated to reach 7.5 million by 2020, according to the Guideline.

Analysis by Kevin Prest and Xiaoxiao Liu:

As with previous announcements, the guideline focuses on developing skilled staff in the manufacturing sector, pointing towards additional demand for relevant courses at both universities and higher vocational institutions. Key new information in the current guidelines include the specific subject areas where attention will be directed at either the bachelor’s degree  or higher vocational level, as well as and professional fields seen as priorities for talent development programmes.

Sources:

1.“Guidelines for Manufacturing Talent Development and Planning", full text in Chinese: http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A07/moe_953/201702/t20170214_296162.html

2.Q&A: http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_fbh/moe_2069/xwfbh_2017n/xwfb_170214/170214_sfcl/201702/t20170214_296156.html

3.http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2017-02/15/content_5168001.htm

4.http://english.gov.cn/state_council/ministries/2017/02/17/content_281475...

5.http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_fbh/moe_2069/xwfbh_2017n/xwfb_170214/1...