China: China's "New-Quality Technician" program equips Belt and Road trainees with advanced skills.

Storyline China's "New-Quality Technician" program equips Belt and Road trainees with advanced skills At these classrooms in Suzhou, trainees from Indonesia and Laos are getting hands-on with new skills. The focus: green development, digitalization, and smart technology. Ahmad Fadhil N, Lecturer in AI, President University: "So in here, I got a lot of like technical, like the algorithms, explanations further about the algorithm, something like that. So it means we get me some insightful... how behind the scene of AI works." Others are learning skills they can take straight back to the factory floor. Yaqzan Almagribi, Maintenance Engineer, Toyota Manufacturing Indonesia: "Especially in automation, relate to the industry... we can get the knowledge in here and apply in my working area." Some trainees are going further – turning what they learn into something new. Mutia Karinah, Indonesian Pharmacist: "We built a game like a simple game. So even in pharmaceutical science, we also need that, for example, our students and researchers, if they want to cognize or remember medicines so they have to remember in a good play. So I think create a simple game for pharmacist, students, or learner. It's a very great thing." Saskia Kanisaa Puspanikan, Lecturer, Indonesia University of Education (UPI): "We assembled a drone first, and we put a program to stabilize the drone and we practice." Since launching in 2025, the program has trained 223 teachers and technicians from Indonesia and Laos. This spring, 102 trainees are studying three new fields: AI and digital transformation, smart industrial automation, and railway operations and maintenance. Qiu aijun, Deputy Director-General, International Cooperation Center, National Development and Reform Commission of China: "We launched the "New-Quality Technician" Vocational Skills Training Program as an ongoing capacity-building initiative for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, focused on developing new-quality productive forces in cutting-edge fields such as green and low-carbon development, digitalization, and intelligent technology. Going forward, we plan to expand this program even further – reaching more partner countries and covering more technical and vocational fields – to provide strong talent support for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative." Wang Tianyu, Reporter: "Through one month of study here in Suzhou, trainees have gained advanced industrial skills. The program has deepened practical cooperation and shared growth under the Belt and Road Initiative." [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]