On December 30, it was announced that the General Office of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions has officially issued a notice, revealing the 2025 list of National Model Worker and Craftsman Innovation Studios selected for support. The "Zhang Liangang Innovation Studio" and "Guo Kai Innovation Studio" from Shandong Port's Qingdao Port were both selected, establishing them as benchmark models for innovative development within the national port industry and showcasing the formidable innovative strength of port craftsmen in the new era. The selection process for the National Model Worker and Craftsman Innovation Studio support list is a key initiative by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions to cultivate new quality productive forces and bolster high-level, self-reliant technological advancement. It aims to build platforms for achievement, fully leveraging the exemplary and leading roles of model workers and skilled craftsmen to solidify the skills and innovation foundation for Chinese modernization. The inclusion of these two studios from Qingdao Port not only serves as authoritative recognition of the port's past innovative achievements but also stands as a vivid practice and breakthrough result of its long-term commitment to deepening the reform of the industrial workforce development system, while vigorously promoting the spirit of model workers, labor, and craftsmanship. As the core of the Northeast Asia international shipping hub, Qingdao Port has consistently regarded the cultivation of a high-quality industrial workforce as the core support for high-quality development. It precisely aligns with the needs of the national innovation system construction, using advanced models such as "People's Craftsman" Xu Zhenchao, the "Role Model of the Era" Liangang innovation team, and "Great Nation Craftsman" Guo Kai as leaders. By establishing Model Worker and Craftsman Innovation Studios, the port has built a talent cultivation system characterized by "exemplary leadership, platform empowerment, and echelon growth," fostering a uniquely distinctive craftsman cultivation ecosystem. To date, Qingdao Port has established 3 national-level skill master studios, 5 provincial-level characteristic workstations, and 25 municipal-level or above Model Worker and Craftsman Innovation Studios. It has also built 4 empowerment bases and innovation bases, continuously providing skilled personnel with full-chain support from learning and practical training to technological transformation, thereby converting the skills, spirit, and experience of model workers into momentum for all employees to start businesses and undertake ventures. In the future, Shandong Port's Qingdao Port will continue to deepen institutional innovation, platform optimization, and the master-apprentice inheritance system. It will fully leverage the demonstrative and leading role of the Model Worker Innovation Studios to tackle core technologies, accelerate the transformation of achievements, and cultivate more high-quality craftsmen talents, injecting inexhaustible momentum into the accelerated construction of a world-class oceanic port.
News Extension: Zhang Liangang Innovation Studio: As the "vanguard force" that conquered the "bottleneck" technologies for fully automated container terminals, the Zhang Liangang Innovation Studio has blazed a trail of independent innovation since its formation in 2016 under the leadership of Zhang Liangang. Faced with foreign technological barriers, the team abandoned the shortcut of "copy-paste" and innovatively adopted an integrated model combining planning and design, construction integration, and commercial operation. They compressed a three-year foreign design process into one year, using wisdom and sweat to break the prejudices of international counterparts. After nearly a decade of dedicated effort, the studio has achieved a series of world-first accomplishments: building the world's leading fully automated container terminal, the world's first "Hydrogen + 5G" smart green terminal, and the nation's first fully domestically produced and independently developed automated terminal. The average single-crane operating efficiency for quay cranes reaches 62.62 natural containers per hour, and they have broken world records 13 times cumulatively, becoming a benchmark for global smart port construction. To date, the studio has undertaken 16 national, provincial, and municipal scientific research projects, secured 80 nationally authorized invention patents and 12 internationally authorized invention patents, and won over 20 national, provincial, and municipal awards, including the "2017 Top Ten Scientific and Technological Advances in China's Intelligent Manufacturing." The technical system and management experience it has built have become replicable and promotable "China Solutions" and "Shandong Port Models," significantly enhancing China's international discourse power in the field of automated terminals. Guo Kai Innovation Studio: Rooted in the frontline of dry bulk terminals, the Guo Kai Innovation Studio aims to "build an internationally leading smart green port for dry bulk cargo" and has written an innovation legend for industrial workers. Guo Kai, who grew from an apprentice to a "Great Nation Craftsman," not only set a Guinness World Record for opening 30 beer bottles in one minute with a loader but has also led his team to break world records for iron ore unloading 22 times, interpreting the "craftsman spirit" with exquisite skill. The studio has built innovation teams covering eight major areas, including fixed machinery, ship loading, environmental protection, and information technology. Its 53 core members focus on tackling production pain points: they completed the first domestic upgrade for automated intelligent loading of ore into train cars using a loading tower, creating a "two-tower, six-line" open-top container loading system that had transported over 113 million tons of cargo by November 2025; they developed two fully unmanned dry bulk horizontal transport modes, achieving "one operator controlling two" fully automated ship operations for dry bulk terminal gantry cranes, and pioneered the application of unmanned excavator lifting technology in the industry; over five months, they developed the country's first intelligent cleaning robot for train wagons, generating over 2 million RMB in annual efficiency gains. Over the years, the studio has accumulated more than 460 innovation achievements, holds 112 national patents, and has created economic value of 110 million RMB. It has also established specialized training platforms like the "Unique Skills Class" for mobile machinery, cultivating over 300 model workers and skilled talents at the group level or above.
