An on-campus job fair for the higher vocational students who are to graduate in 2021 was held on Jan 4 in the Jiangsu Province Qidong Technical Secondary School, located in Qidong, a county-level city administered by Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province.

Local stock market-listed companies, including Jiangsu Shentong Valve Co Ltd and Jiangsu Liance Electromechanical Technology Co Ltd, recruited people at the event.

In recent years, as its business environment has continued to improve, more and more companies have settled in Qidong and the demand for labor has increased significantly.

To solve the problems of a labor shortage and difficulties in finding and retaining technical staff, Qidong has increased its support through improved employment policies and has encouraged enterprises to conduct pre-job, on-the-job and skills improvement training programs. Municipal government subsidies are also being provided for the training.

A new apprenticeship system, focusing on joint training by businesses and school teachers, is being fully implemented in Qidong.

The aim is to encourage businesses and technical or vocational schools to adopt a system where apprentices work and learn by turns. Each year, apprentices can get a subsidy ranging from 4,000 yuan ($155) to 6,000 yuan.