During a recent graduation ceremony, Malaysian student Hakimi expressed his heartfelt sentiment: "I will take the solid skills I honed in Liuzhou back home and contribute to the construction of the East Coast Rail Link." As a trainee in the targeted program at Liuzhou Railway Vocational and Technical College, he systematically studied railway electrical control practical skills in Liuzhou. Upon graduation, he will join the construction of the Malaysia East Coast Rail Link project, a flagship Belt and Road Initiative project jointly built by China and Malaysia. This year, 66 Malaysian trainees from the college successfully graduated and began their careers.
In recent years, Liuzhou City in Guangxi has focused on building its "Industry Leadership, Study in Liuzhou" brand. It integrates the internationalization of vocational education into the city's overall strategy for global outreach, which encompasses "products, standards, and vocational education." Aligned with its development goal of "thriving toward the sea," the city concentrates on four key tasks: policy guidance, platform support, talent supply, and standard sharing. It implements a "Chinese language + vocational skills" order-based talent cultivation model to nurture young students from ASEAN countries. To date, the city has admitted a total of 2,232 international students from ASEAN, with its path of opening up vocational education becoming increasingly broad.
At an LiuGong training center in Indonesia, local trainees use Indonesian-language textbooks compiled by Liuzhou Vocational and Technical University to learn construction machinery maintenance. In enterprise workshops in Thailand, ASEAN students cultivated through Liuzhou's order-based programs are taking root in frontline technical positions. On production lines in Vietnam, vocational teachers from Liuzhou are stationed long-term to provide assistance, helping overseas enterprises solve various technical challenges. Leveraging the overseas presence of leading automotive and engineering machinery enterprises, Liuzhou has explored a distinctive development path characterized by "education following industrial output, with schools and enterprises advancing together."
Over the past decade, the city's vocational education sector has successively completed three levels of progression: "borrowing ships to go to sea, building ships to go to sea, and forming fleets to go to sea." Liuzhou Vocational and Technical University has jointly established overseas training centers and modern craftsman academies with LiuGong Group and spearheaded the establishment of the China-Indonesia Vocational Education Industry-Education Alliance. Today, Liuzhou has established 19 overseas training centers, 7 modern craftsman academies, 2 Luban Workshops, and 5 international industry-education alliances within ASEAN, forming a diverse and collaborative cross-border cooperation matrix.
On May 1, 2026, Guangxi's first local regulation in the field of vocational education industry-education integration, the "Liuzhou City Vocational Education Industry-Education Integration Promotion Regulations," officially took effect. This regulation clearly stipulates the internationalization of the city's vocational education, providing convenience for ASEAN students to study in Liuzhou. The well-established platforms and mechanisms have made "Study in Liuzhou" a preferred choice for many young students from ASEAN countries. Liuzhou implements an order-based cultivation model of "laying the foundation domestically, practicing skills overseas, and being selectively hired by enterprises." This approach provides precise education closely aligned with overseas industrial needs, ensuring that every international student in Liuzhou achieves success in their studies.
In the field of new energy vehicles, Liuzhou's vocational education continues to help solve development challenges for Laos's industry. Laos's automotive sector has long relied on imported complete vehicles, with a shortage of professional talent being a key weakness. In 2021, Liuzhou City Vocational College initiated a quadrilateral cooperation involving Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor Co., Ltd., Laos Huida Company, and local institutions. This collaboration formally established the Laos Luban Workshop in 2024. Today, relying on jointly cultivated local talent, Laos has built its first automobile manufacturing factory. The market share of Chenglong heavy-duty trucks in the local market has risen to 85%.
Currently, Liuzhou City has shared 76 internationally recognized vocational education standards, 46 bilingual supporting textbooks, and 63 sets of internationalized teaching resources with over 100 overseas institutions. Among these, Liuzhou Vocational and Technical University took the lead in implementing China's first Indonesian engineering machinery professional undergraduate certification standard. Its self-developed artificial intelligence course series has been successfully incorporated into the regular teaching content of 44 Indonesian national polytechnics and 139 vocational education colleges under public universities.
The graduation season was filled with warmth. A uniquely crafted city tour became an unforgettable graduation memory for the 66 Malaysian graduates. They sincerely reflected, "In China, we not only learned technology but also experienced the spirit of master craftsmen striving for excellence. After returning home, we will strive to be goodwill ambassadors connecting China and ASEAN."
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