48th WorldSkills Competition Draws Crowds in Shanghai
The 48th WorldSkills Competition opened in Shanghai on September 22, 2026, drawing crowds to the National Exhibition and Convention Center with 1,385 young competitors from 68 countries and regions vying across 64 skill events. Chinese Premier Li Qiang declared the competition open during a ceremony where a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping was read.
Global Competitors and Record Categories
Running through September 27, 2026, this biennial vocational contest features a roster exceeding 60 categories for the first time in its history.
Contests are taking place at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, while the WorldExpo Cultural Center hosted the opening ceremony and will stage the closing ceremony. Visitors to the event have observed a wide variety of practical demonstrations, ranging from CNC milling and turning contests to health and social care, hotel reception, dental prosthetics, and drone racing.
China’s Representation and Workforce Scale
China is fielding 71 competitors with an average age of 21, participating across all 64 skill categories. Official data cited by government reporting indicates that China maintains more than 220 million skilled workers, including over 72 million highly skilled professionals. These skilled workers account for approximately 30 percent of the country’s total employed population, serving as a talent base for ongoing industrial upgrading.
Brazil stands as the only other country fielding competitors across every single discipline at the Shanghai event. Since joining WorldSkills International in 2010, Chinese competitors have earned 93 gold medals, capturing the top spot in both the gold-medal tally and overall group points across four consecutive editions.
Conferences, Exhibitions, and Global Cooperation
Alongside the main competition floor, the WorldSkills Conference 2026 and the WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 Expo run from September 23 to 25 and September 23 to 26 respectively. Policymakers, educators, and industry leaders gather at these sessions to discuss artificial intelligence, vocational education, green development, and future labor needs.
Skills development has also expanded into cooperative frameworks with the Global South. Vocational education programs jointly established by Chinese and overseas partner institutions, known as Luban Workshops, have trained more than 10,000 young people across 15 African countries. Ten African nations are jointly presenting a dedicated regional exhibition area at the Shanghai event to highlight shared vocational training initiatives.
Visitors can also explore the WorldSkills Museum, which is housed in a restored century-old textile warehouse in Shanghai’s Yangpu district, preserving the historical trajectory of international vocational trades since the competition’s inception in Madrid in 1950.