East China's Zhejiang province is expected to employ a total of 11.5 million skilled workers, at least 4 million of whom are highly skilled, in its manufacturing sector by 2025, the provincial government officials announced at a conference themed around upgrading the province's blue collar workforce.

According to the conference, Zhejiang authorities took the initiative last year to offer online training programs for professional skills, which enrolled a total of 1.57 million workers. They also organized more than 1,000 skill contests.

In the future, Zhejiang authorities plan to pilot the national reform on enhancing the overall competency of the blue collar workforce in the private sector this year, with the goal of consistently raising the social status of skilled workers during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.

An employee inspects battery products at a factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo by Tan Yunfeng/For China Daily]