Why China is looking to vocational training to build bridges with the Global South
- The network of Luban workshops teaching practical skills is seen as effective way of boosting the country’s influence in Africa and Asia
China is building a network of vocational training centres across Africa and Asia as part of its efforts to foster ties with Global South countries and expand its soft power.
There are now 33 Luban workshops – named after a 5th century BC master craftsman and inventor – spread across 29 countries, offering training in fields ranging from advanced manufacturing technologies to Chinese cuisine and medicine.
More than 10,000 students who studied at the centres have gone on to graduate with degrees from affiliated universities, and more than 22,000 have received vocational training there, according to the Chinese Ministry of Education.
It has since been deemed a national project under the supervision of the Education Ministry, which says it brings the “standards, models, equipment and programmes of Chinese vocational education” to participating countries.
In a sign of the grand ambitions behind the project, China’s main foreign aid agency recently said the Ethiopian Luban Workshop based in Addis Ababa, “has been designated as a high-quality skills training centre for the entire African continent by the African Union headquarters”.
