China's medal tally grows at WorldSkills contests

The Chinese team is in high spirits competing at the ongoing WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition, so far winning 13 golds and two silvers in 23 finished events.

The special edition, which is a replacement for the canceled WorldSkills Shanghai 2022, runs from the middle of September until the end of November and will hold 62 events in 15 countries and regions.

In the recently completed competitions held in Bern, Switzerland, 22-year-old Liu Zelong won the gold medal in the electronics event, regaining China the championship after Chinese competitor Liang Pan won gold at the 45th WorldSkills in Kazan, Russia in 2019.

On Oct 17, the Chinese team made breakthroughs in some events with competitors winning the country's first two golds in 3D Digital Game Art and Cloud Computing in South Korea.

"I was surprised when I was announced as the champion," Luo Kai, the gold medalist for 3D Digital Game Art, said in an interview with China Central Television. "The coaches on the team covered me in the national flag and I ran to the stage with tears in my eyes."

The event requires competitors to create a 3D digital game with a given theme in four days. Competitors must start with a drawing, make a prototype and optimize the details of the game's avatar to create a finished product.

"I have been curious about the creation of game avatars and their movement in games since my childhood. To us vocational students, the nation has offered us a good platform to show our talent," he told CCTV.

According to WorldSkills, China manufactured the medals handed out for the special edition.

The medal includes the symbol of WorldSkills on the front and an engraved Chinese character ji — meaning skill — on the back.

Shanghai was scheduled to host the 46th WorldSkills this year but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 epidemic, while the nation won the bid for organizing WorldSkills in 2026.France will host the next biennial event in 2024.