ASHGABAT, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said here Thursday that the Luban Workshop in Turkmenistan has turned from a blueprint into reality, injecting new momentum into the friendly cooperation between China and Turkmenistan.

File photo: Chinese embassy in Turkmenistan

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while attending the unveiling ceremony of the Luban Workshop in Ashgabat.

Ding said the Chinese government attaches great importance to international cooperation in vocational education.

As a well-known brand of China's vocational education, Luban Workshops have taken root in more than 30 countries across the world, becoming an important bond for skills exchange and people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries, he noted.

Ding said the establishment of the Luban Workshop in Turkmenistan is an important consensus reached by the heads of state of China and Turkmenistan, as well as a major outcome of the first China-Central Asia Summit.

He put forward three expectations for the workshop's development:

First, it should be built into an important platform for youth development in both countries, deepening cooperation in education, science and technology, and talent cultivation. Emphasis should be placed on integrating vocational and general education as well as industry and education, so as to better guide students and expand their prospects.

Second, it should serve as a key pillar for upgrading energy cooperation, aligning closely with industrial needs and focusing on the targeted training of high-caliber technical and skilled professionals in key areas such as oil and gas exploration and development, thereby promoting deeper synergy and coordinated implementation of the two countries' energy strategies.

Third, it should function as a bridge for passing on China-Turkmenistan friendship from generation to generation, enhancing mutual learning among civilizations, encouraging more young people to act as envoys of bilateral friendship, and further strengthening the public foundation for a China-Turkmenistan community with a shared future.