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WorldSkills Shanghai 2026

What's ON #1: Setting the global stage for skills

21 September 2026

Welcome to WorldSkills Shanghai 2026! Every day we will bring you the highlights of the 48th WorldSkills Competition so you can stay in the loop wherever you are in the world.

What has been happening so far?

Delegations have arrived

The skills community has touched down in Shanghai! WorldSkills Competitors, Experts, and Delegates from more than 65 competing countries and regions received a warm welcome to China. Volunteers greeted them at the airports, banners and signs are decorating buildings across the city, and the set up in the NECC is complete! Yesterday, our skilled young talent received their first glimpse of the magnificent competition halls during Familiarization day, and the world’s media were taken on an exclusive tour by the WorldSkills Champions Trust of the WorldSkills Competition, WorldSkills Expo, and Try-a-Skill stands.

What is coming up?

Opening Ceremony

Get ready for the magic! Thousands of visitors will attend the Opening Ceremony at the Shanghai World Expo Cultural Center tonight. Spectacular entertainment and breathtaking displays will be capped off by the Parade of Nations, where every Competitor will have their moment in the spotlight. Wherever you are in the world, you can have a front row seat as the Ceremony will be livestreamed on WorldSkills channels. Find out more here.

One School One Member

Sixty-two Shanghai schools will be opening their doors to WorldSkills Competitors, as part of the One School One Member cultural exchange programme. In February, local schools were paired with WorldSkills Members and over the last six months they have been swapping messages about each other’s traditions and skills. Today they will finally get to meet in person and later this week, local students will get the chance to see their Competitors in action, live at the NECC.

WorldSkills Conference 2026

Tomorrow, WorldSkills Conference 2026 will open with remarks from Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. For the first time, the Conference sessions will run over three days and include plenary sessions, panel discussions, field trips to TVET highlights in Shanghai, and even a Skills CoLab market place to allow more networking and best practice sharing to shape a skills-driven future. Check out the sessions and plan your days.

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