Dozens of experts set to be honored for their prowess

Biennial awards help encourage expertise and attract talent to city, say local officials

Foshan in South China's Guangdong province is set to award 30 specialists in different trades across the city for their outstanding professional skills and consistent pursuit of improved craftsmanship on Tuesday.

The awards ceremony takes place every other year, where winners are honored as "Foshan Craftsman". It is significant to the host city, which has been long known for its dynamic manufacturing industry, as it helps inject a spirit of craftsmanship into industries and attracts more high-level professionals to Foshan, local officials said.

Nominees are assessed with criteria including professional expertise, technological innovation, team leadership or feats in traditional crafts, and previous honors.

This year, the awardees will include skilled workers, researchers, craftsmen and other people in Foshan. This is especially so for those who have made prominent contributions to production resumption amid the prevention and control of COVID-19, as well as to economic transformation and industrial upgrades, organizers said.

They are from all walks of life including teachers from vocational institutes, chief engineers and technicians, managers, art consultants and artisans from handicraft and jewelry companies.

Zheng Liyu, director of the research and development center at the mechanical and electrical department of Midea Group, is among those listed.

Zheng has focused on refrigeration compressor research for 15 years. He recalled it was hard for the company to develop products independently at the beginning. "At that time, we were weak in R&D capabilities and had to depend on technical support from our partners," Zheng said.

Then the company began to establish an R&D system and deploy resources for technological portfolio expansion in its businesses. Zheng founded an R&D team with 1,000 experienced researchers for the company.

The team worked day and night for nearly five months to develop the company's proprietary compressor series, Zheng said.

To date, sales of the compressors have surpassed more than 150 million.

Yuan Yikai, director of the R&D center at Foshan Nationstar Optoelectronics, is another of the awardees.

As a senior researcher at Nationstar, one of the largest manufacturers of LEDs in China, Yuan has led a team to complete the company's research on a key LED technology, which enables high efficiency and a long life span.

The research project won first prize in the Award for Progress in Science and Technology in 2019.

"As a researcher, we should not only focus on innovation but also need to dedicate ourselves to our work to make qualified products," Yuan said.

"We need to trust young people and ignite their initiative in practices," Yuan said. "My young colleagues are smart and can do a greater job on their own initiative," he added.

There are many obstacles to innovation that require insistence on honing skills to ensure superior production, he said.

The city's awards event focuses on promoting the spirit of craftsmanship and entrepreneurship to encourage people in all walks of life to improve skills, Yuan said.

"That helps inject impetus into a manufacturing transformation and upgrade in Foshan," he said.

Located at the inland of the Pearl River Delta in the south of central Guangdong province, Foshan is a core city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It has ranked first in terms of investment in industrial technology transformation in Guangdong for four consecutive years.

With a manufacturing-based economy, Foshan is home to industries such as machinery, household appliances, ceramics, building materials, metal processing and metal products, fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

The city has also seen burgeoning development in emerging industries, including optoelectronics, environmental protection, new materials and new energy vehicles.