Port city ramping up educational resources

Tianjin is showcasing its role as a hub for vocational education and international cooperation ahead of its hosting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit 2025, set to take place on Sunday and Monday. The summit is expected to be the largest in SCO history, with leaders from more than 20 countries and heads of 10 international organizations attending.

At the center of Tianjin's efforts are the Luban Workshops, a vocational education initiative pioneered by the city. According to the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission, the port city has established 10 Luban Workshops in eight SCO countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan and Egypt, cultivating more than 15,000 technical experts.

The workshops use school-to-school collaborations and industry-education integrations to develop joint educational projects abroad, offering 21 professional programs in fields such as manufacturing, new energy, artificial intelligence, the digital economy, electronics and transportation.

"We will continue to deepen vocational education cooperation with SCO countries, striving to build Tianjin into an international hub city for vocational education exchanges," said Jing Hongyang, director of the commission, during the Tianjin Special Session of the SCO Summit 2025 media briefing on Friday.

Jing said that Tianjin has also established the World Technical and Vocational Education and Training League, which includes the 10 SCO member states and provides a regular framework for communication and cooperation. It also offers strong intellectual support for vocational education development in the region.

Beyond education, Tianjin is drawing on its port facilities, industrial base and open platforms to facilitate diverse and practical exchanges and cooperation with SCO countries in areas such as the economy, trade and culture, said Wang Xu, executive vice-mayor of Tianjin.

"The Tianjin International Port Comprehensive Service Hall has been put into use, with new country-specific service halls established to create a 'one-stop' platform for economic and trade cooperation. The Mongolia Hall is currently open, and exclusive service halls for Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Cambodia will be added this year," said Wang.

Local enterprises are expanding overseas as well. Tianjin-based Mingyuan Silu Industry Co built the largest glass production base in Uzbekistan, while Tianjin Rail Transit Group is participating in the construction of Kazakhstan's first urban light rail line in its capital city Astana. From January to July, Tianjin's total imports and exports with SCO countries amounted to 53.37 billion yuan ($7.48 billion), up 5.2 percent year-on-year, according to Wang.

The city's people-to-people exchanges with SCO countries are also thriving. Tianjin has 20 sister-city relationships at various levels with 11 countries, with frequent high-level exchanges.

Luan Jianzhang, head of the Foreign Affairs Office of Tianjin, said that in recent years, practical cooperation in areas such as the economy, trade, education, culture, ports and sports has continued to deepen in Tianjin.

"As the SCO Summit approaches, Tianjin will seize this opportunity to further expand its sister city cooperation with SCO countries, build more bridges for people-to-people exchanges and contribute Tianjin's strengths to the sustainable development of the SCO," Luan said.