Recently, the Qingdao Branch of the Open University of China (OUC), the Qingdao division of Beijing Electric Vehicles (BJEV) (a subsidiary of Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC)),and Qingdao Guoxuan Battery held a ceremony at Qingdao BJEV to sign a university-business cooperation agreement, and unveil a new programme in which the Qingdao Branch and the two enterprises would combine strengths and integrate resources,

including on-the-job, academic, and vocational training, degree with non-degree education, vocational training with continuing education, online with offline learning, and employment with education, so as to enhance the professional skills of company employees and give new impetus to the economic development of Laixi city.    

These actions are important steps toward implementing general secretary Xi Jinping's requirements for promoting higher-quality development and the integration of industry, capital, talent and technology. The three parties are expected to work closely with the Party committee and the government of Qingdao to help create a "city of craftsmen" and carry out large-scale skills training for workers in order to enhance their knowledge, skills, and capacity for innovation, and support Qingdao manufacturing through the emergence of master craftsmen.

The role of the Qingdao Branch will be to use the advantages of its "Internet plus" system to explore new approaches to training, combining degree education with vocational-skills and external training, in order to help enterprises engaged in producing alternative-energy vehicles and carbon-based materials to upgrade the skills and qualifications of their workers through non-degree continuing education, helping employees realise their talents and their dreams.

This is not the first time the Qingdao Branch has made use of its advantages to enter cooperation with enterprises. Others include the Yum China Qingdao marketing department, the Qingdao Tourism Group, and the Qingdao Bright Moon Seaweed Group. Where industry demand exists, it has carried out targeted on-the-job training of personnel, building online and offline platforms to help employees upgrade their skills and education, and providing a basis for enterprises in Qingdao to continue to grow.

By Qingdao Branch