Two college students from Chongqing — Li Xiaosong and Wang Pei — claimed respective top honors in the optoelectronic technology and beauty therapy competitions at the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition in Tokyo, Japan, and Helsinki, Finland. It was the first time Chinese contestants won gold in the two categories.

The WorldSkills Competition, hailed as the "skills Olympics", is the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world. It showcases top skills and promotes the careers of young people.

On Oct 19, after four days of competition, Li, 22, won the optoelectronic technology title. The category was added to the competition this year.

"Optoelectronic technology is widely applied in our everyday lives. I hope more young people will become skilled in the future, to make 'Made in China' a source of pride around the world," Li said.

At another WSC arena, in Helsinki, on Oct 24, Wang Pei, 23, won China's first beauty therapy title. The category had been dominated by European competitors for years.

Before the competition, Wang had won two silver medals in the category in the WSC and had taken part in the event for seven years.

"It was a dream come true as I grew from a WSC spectator to a competitor and kept the Chinese flag flying on the world stage. All the hardships and my efforts have paid off," she said.

Li and Wang both came out of Chongqing City Management College.

Chongqing is said to have 4.94 million skilled people, 31.5 percent of whom (1.55 million) are advanced talents, enabling Chongqing to take the lead in western China.

The Chongqing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau noted that contestants from the city have won four WorldSkills championships. All were the country's first WSC gold medalists in their categories.

The other two champions are Nie Feng, who won the hairdressing championship at the 43rd WSC in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2015, and Liang Pan, who won the electronics championship at the 45th WSC held in Kazan, Russia, in 2019.