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Fan Guowei, deputy to the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress. [Photo/Tide News]

As Zhejiang entered its annual "two sessions" period on Jan 13, Fan Guowei, deputy to the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress and deputy director of the Process Equipment Department at Wolong ZF Automotive E Motors Co, submitted a suggestion titled "On Establishing a 'Skill Grafting' Certification System to Promote the Low-Cost, Efficient Transition Between Similar Occupations". 

As a technical expert with nearly three decades of workshop experience, Fan said he aims to create a smoother career pathway for workers with traditional skills.

"This suggestion addresses the real dilemma faced by many industrial workers," Fan said. 

He said experienced workers in traditional roles, such as lathe operators and assemblers, share a fundamental logic that could tally with emerging positions in intelligent manufacturing. 

However, in order to successfully make that transition, they are required to start from scratch and obtain new certifications, a process that consumes a lot of time and money while letting their valuable practical experience go to waste.

Fan suggested shifting the approach from "restarting certification" to "skill grafting" — a system of incremental accreditation. 

This would begin by mapping their occupational skills and identifying any overlaps or gaps between old and new roles. Next, he recommended developing targeted skill-grafting certification modules, and offering short, standardized training to address specific knowledge gaps. Finally, competency-based certification would replace conventional subject-based exams.