In the light of the goal set out during the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, and in line with relevant Central Government decisions and policies, the MOE has pursued the development of vocational education as a way to facilitate national development and boost employment, following a path with unique Chinese characteristics, and making unprecedented progress in various areas.

China now has the world’s largest vocational education system. In 2018, there were a total of 11,700 vocational education institutions in the country, including 10,300 secondary vocational schools¹ and 1,418 vocational colleges, with 9.2824 million newly-enrolled students and 26.8554 million registered students. More specifically, secondary vocational schools had 5.5941 million newly-enrolled students and 15.5184 million registered students, representing 41.37% and 39.47% of the total students in these two categories in secondary education² respectively; while vocational colleges had 3.6883 million newly-enrolled students and 11.3370 million registered students, representing 46.63% and 40.05% of all students in these two categories in higher education respectively. These institutions provide extensive training, benefiting hundreds of millions of people every year. In sum, the sector has developed adequate capacity for large-scale training of technicians and skillful workers, serving as an essential lever for the country’s economic and social development in terms of human resources.

Note:

1. Secondary vocational schools include regular and adult specialized secondary schools, vocational high schools and technical schools.

2. Secondary education institutions include regular and adult high schools and secondary vocational schools.