Vocational and enterprise training in China: Policy, practice and prospect

The training provision and skill level of the labour force of a nation has been widely regarded as essential to organizational and national performance in an era of accelerating global competition. China, with one of the largest labour forces in the world, has often been criticized for the low quality of its labour supply. This paper critically examines the vocational training system and enterprise training provision in China. It analyses the role of the state and employers, and the main characteristics and problems in the training provision. The paper identifies the likely groups of workers missing out in the training network. It also contemplates the prospect of training in China against the context of its recent WTO accession, an increasing level of foreign investment in the country and, more importantly, its recent radical restructuring of the state-owned sectors and its rapid expansion of private sectors including the informal sector.