A total of 250 million yuan was invested to expand technical secondary schools in Taicang in 2011 and the figure rose to 280 million yuan last year.

In 2000, traditional industries in Jiangsu province began to transform into emerging industries.

"The trend has become even more noticeable since 2008, as economic growth slowed and exports shrank. The local authorities have realized that labor-intensive industries have lost their competitive edge and are attaching more importance to tech-savvy industries, which have higher demands on talent," Wang said.

The courses at local vocational schools are changing accordingly. Biochemical, logistics, port management, business outsourcing and even cultural and creative industry courses can now be found on the timetables of vocational schools in Taicang.

Zhou Hongbin, director of Taicang Education Bureau, said: "Vocational education in Taicang is very much tailored to its industrial restructuring. For higher vocational education, more importance is now attached to cultural and creative industries, while the central government is making great efforts to nurture industries such as animation.

"Attempts in other cities that turned out to be failures can largely be attributed to less attention from the government. This kind of cooperation between companies and schools must be initiated and led by the local government," he added.

Contact the writers at shijing@chinadaily.com.cn and hewei@chinadaily.com.cn