Beijing Agreement addresses key areas of concern in global skills education

The Framework of World Vocational and Technical Education Standards, also known as the Beijing Agreement, was jointly released by 45 countries on Saturday, marking the first international vocational education standards framework developed under China's leadership.

The framework was unveiled at the closing ceremony of the World Vocational and Technical Education Development Conference 2026, held in Tianjin.

The Beijing Agreement identifies the common values of vocational education as promoting economic prosperity and social progress, supporting people's all-round development, expanding opportunities for social equity, fostering mutual learning and exchanges in vocational skills, and actively addressing future challenges.

It proposes improving vocational school systems, establishing a lifelong education and training system accessible to all, developing teaching materials through industry-education collaboration, and strengthening the teaching workforce through school-enterprise cooperation. It also calls for internships and practical training to be tailored to actual job requirements and for artificial intelligence to support reforms in education and teaching.

According to the Ministry of Education, the agreement addresses key areas of global concern in vocational education, including values, systems, governance, support and implementation measures.

China has built the world's largest vocational education system, with more than 10,000 vocational schools and over 30 million students. Vocational schools provide training for more than 70 percent of the country's newly added skilled front-line workers annually, the ministry said.

Peng Binbai, director of the ministry's Department of Vocational and Adult Education, said the Beijing Agreement draws on China's vocational education practices and global experience in the field. Its development took more than a year, with education authorities, industry departments and industry associations from more than 40 countries participating in consultations and discussions, he said.

Pan Haisheng, a professor at Tianjin University's School of Education, said that given the considerable differences in vocational education systems across countries, common standards can provide an important basis for identifying shared goals.

"Through dialogue and close engagement with industry, we can find a window for standards dialogue," Pan said, describing the Beijing Agreement as "the only one of its kind globally".

He said he hoped the framework would help countries build consensus on the value of vocational education and provide institutional guarantees for the development and sharing of vocational standards, as well as the orderly cross-border movement of skilled workers.

Pan noted that vocational education must keep pace with industry developments. As artificial intelligence accelerates industrial change, vocational education needs to adapt its core elements and talent training models accordingly. China's vocational education has developed a model with internationally leading standards and is becoming an increasingly important force in global vocational education, he said.

Wanu Hafidh Ameir, Tanzania's deputy minister of education, science and technology, said vocational education and training had become a key link between Africa's young population and sustainable economic development, translating the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals into productive employment, innovation and improved livelihoods.

Tanzania welcomes the Beijing Agreement as a voluntary reference document for advancing vocational education and training and will implement it in accordance with its national laws, priorities and development context, Ameir said.

Vocational education must address Africa's realities and help young people navigate a rapidly changing world, she added. Education standards should align with the continent's development priorities, teachers should maintain close ties with industry, and professional qualifications should receive broader cross-border recognition. These measures would enable African skilled workers to apply their expertise to regional and continental development, she said.