On 24 September 2021, the ASEAN-China TVET Hi-TEA was held during the 2021 China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW). The Hi-TEA was co-hosted by the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ACC, Mr. Wang Yongli, Secretary-General of CEAIE, and education officials from embassies of ASEAN Member States (AMS) to China attended the meeting.

Mr. Chen Dehai stated that vocational education is an important foundation for cultivating talents, enhancing employment and entrepreneurship innovation, and promoting a substantial increase in manufacturing and service levels. It is China’s core experience for helping nearly 99 million rural poor people to get rid of poverty to vigorously develop vocational education and “increasing people’s confidence for better life” and “helping them to acquire knowledge and skills” through technical training. In the post-pandemic era, accelerating the construction of a modern vocational education system and cultivating more high-quality technical and skilled personnel is the key to promoting the rapid social and economic recovery. It is hoped that education officials from ASEAN embassies to China would actively share their experiences and make suggestions for future cooperation.

During the Hi-TEA, Ms. He Pei, Director of the Vocational Education and Training Department of CEAIE, briefed on the present policy, system, reform and practice of China’s vocational education, and shared China’s experience in this field. Embassy officials actively exchanged ideas and explored ways of cooperating with China in the field of vocational education.