Xiamen has been stepping up efforts to tap into the potential of professionals in the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa through exchange and training programs.

On May 24, the 2022 BRICS Vocational Skills Competition kicked off in the coastal city in East China's Fujian province. The competition is jointly hosted by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the BRICS Business Council and the Xiamen government.

The event aimed to improve contestants' abilities in innovation, coordination, organization and cooperation, deepen exchanges and collaboration among vocational schools and enterprises in the BRICS nations and help these nations cultivate international, high-caliber and skillful talents, according to its organizers.

As the first of its kind hosted by China, which is the chair of BRICS this year, the six-day competition focused on emerging industries such as smart manufacturing and the digital economy, with the final scheduled for November in Xiamen.

Contestants from 55 international teams and 120 domestic teams presented their latest techniques regarding web design, machine learning and big data as well as rail transit online. They used English during the competition.

"We have aligned the competition with international standards and forms of organizations and evaluation," a local official said.

"In order to ensure a smooth online competition, training programs centered around 28 categories have been held online before the competition."

Prior to this competition, in response to the nation's call for further cooperation among BRICS nations, Xiamen has set up the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution Innovation Center, which started operations in September 2021.

The center has so far hosted 17 online and offline personnel training and exchange events around issues of concern to BRICS nations, which attracted more than 120,000 attendees from 28 countries.

In November 2021, the BRICS New Industrial Capacity Improvement and Training Base was officially opened. This platform partners with five Xiamen-based schools including Xiamen University, Huaqiao University and Xiamen Technical College, helping to build the city into a magnet for talent from BRICS nations.

One of the local officials said: "This year, Xiamen will continue to leverage its advantages and promote a number of flagship projects. For example, we will collaborate with think tanks in other BRICS nations and appoint 30 experts from BRICS nations to a pool of experts.

"A five-year plan for BRICS personnel training will be formulated. Ten to 20 demonstration training programs and 50 to 100 courses will be later designed. Also, we will build an internet of vehicles pilot zone and an intelligent manufacturing pilot zone, launch at least 50 demonstration projects on a par with what the new industrial revolution requires and set up a fund on BRICS industries."

yinruowei@chinadaily.com.cn