A DEPUTY to the National People’s Congress (NPC) is calling for more attention to industrial workers and their career development.

Yang Feifei, a technician with Precision Machinery Group of Foxconn Technology Group, told Shenzhen Economic Daily that he would continue to voice the concerns of industrial workers at the annual sessions of China’s top legislative and advisory bodies (Two Sessions), which will be held in Beijing in March.

Yang has been working in mechanical processing for nearly 18 years. He began his career as an apprentice, gradually becoming a technical expert and later a national and provincial model worker. What he has witnessed during the process is the transformation and upgrading of Shenzhen’s manufacturing industry to high-end manufacturing, precision manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing.

Since he became a deputy to NPC, Yang has been actively performing his duties as a deputy representing industrial workers. Following field trips and researches, he has put forward several motions regarding the interest of industrial workers.

Before the Two Sessions last year, Yang conducted joint research with provincial, municipal and district-level lawmakers to investigate the distribution of anti-pandemic materials and the implementation of pandemic prevention and control measures. He suggested the construction of the disease prevention and control system, and the enhancement of major pandemic early-warning capacities at the third session of the 13th NPC last year.

Also, what always concerns Yang is issues related to industrial workers. When Yang was a newly elected lawmaker, he advocated that more support and training to develop new skills could be given to industrial workers, especially migrant workers. In the following years, he has dedicated to these proposals, and this year is no exception.

“At present, there is a disconnection between skills appraisal and industrial production, and the training of industrial workers is also disconnected from actual production,” Yang said.

He also stressed that migrant workers had a difficult time adjusting to the urban area. For instance, young people had found the occupation of industrial workers relatively less attractive in recent years, and a lack of promotion opportunities is one of the main reasons.

In this regard, Yang suggested reforming the system of industrial workers’ skill evaluation, establishing a development mechanism linking the actual skill level with the vocational skill level, and providing career promotion chances for industrial workers.

Meanwhile, he advised training industrial workers with different skills to support the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Shenzhen as a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

(Xia Yuanjie)