(Handout via Xinhua Daily)

Jiangsu’s vocational colleges have played a key role in strengthening China-Africa ties by cultivating talent, transferring technical skills, and promoting employment.

Over the past five years, 41,000 African students have studied in the coastal province. Jiangsu's vocational colleges also established 24 overseas educational institutions and programs in 13 African countries.

Cao Guohong, Vice President of Nanjing Vocational Institute of Railway Technology, said that a tailored training program specifically for Egypt's railway project was launched years ago, with the first cohort consisting of 18 students. To date, 87 Egyptian students have graduated and taken on key railway-related positions in the country. This September, the program welcomed an additional 22 Egyptian students.

Over the past five years, the province’s 50 vocational colleges have trained 6,473 African students from 53 countries, who have excelled across various industrial sectors.

Du Qingbo, Vice President of Nanjing Vocational College of Information Technology, noted that the college has collaborated with Ethiopian institutions to develop 21 online English-language courses, including fiber-optic communication and mobile communication technology.

The Eastern Industrial Zone, Ethiopia’s first industrial park built by Chinese private enterprise, is home to over 100 Chinese companies and nearly 30,000 local Ethiopian workers. In response to the zone’s development needs, Changzhou Vocational Institute of Mechatronic Technology began offering training programs in 2021 that combines Chinese language study and vocational skills for the park’s nearly 50 enterprises, according to Vice President Zhou Qingyuan.

This cooperation has also contributed to the global reach of Chinese vocational education. In November 2023, Nanjing Vocational University of Industry Technology led the establishment of the Jiangsu-South Africa Vocational College Principals Alliance, bringing together 11 vocational colleges from Jiangsu and 8 from South Africa.