The Moroccan Luban Workshop has been undergoing final checks of machinery and equipment as it prepares to open soon. This will be the 12th Luban workshop built in Africa by the city of Tianjin.  

A glance at Kenyan Luban Workshop [Photo provided by Tianjin City Vocational College]

The Luban Workshop is a famous international vocational education project that originated in and has been promoted, organized and implemented by Tianjin with the goal of cultivating high quality and skilled talents for host countries.

During the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, China announced to support the establishment of 10 Luban Workshops across Africa. Over the past three years, Tianjin has overcome the adverse effects of the COVID-19 epidemic while working on this plan.

In March 2019, the first Luban Workshop in Africa, the Djibouti Luban Workshop, was launched. Since then, the city has shared vocational technology and education achievements with many other African countries, including Egypt, Mali and South Africa.

As a concrete method of promoting Belt and Road cooperation and building a China-Africa community with a shared future, the Luban workshops teach people in host countries about Chinese standards, models, equipment and solutions. More young Africans are eager to improve their skills and find new opportunities for employment by attending the workshops.

At present, the Luban workshops in Africa offer 27 majors that cover 11 categories, cultivating a large number of technical professionals who are familiar with Chinese technology, craftsmanship and products.

Meanwhile, the project has fostered urgently needed talents for Chinese-funded enterprises in Africa and has become a high-quality platform for Chinese technology and products to "go global".