"I think both of my overall quality and salary will rise after this training," Liu Chunfang, a housekeeper from Jiangxi province, said at the opening ceremony of a free housekeeping training co-held by Fujian and Taiwan on Aug 13.

The training was led by the Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Fujian Province together with the Economic and Trade Commission, Civil Affairs Department and Women's Federation and was intended to cultivate housekeepers with professional ethics and skills.

According to a survey of the Fuzhou Home Economics Association, 60 percent of Fuzhou residents have a demand for housekeeping service. If a housekeeper can serve three households, the market can create 436,000 posts. If one household spends 3,000 yuan on housekeeping per year, the housekeeping industry will earn more than 3.9 billion yuan every year.

However, the housekeeping industry is facing problems, such as low personnel quality, high resignation and spotty quality of training institutions, which restrict its development.

The training combined Taiwan's training concepts of professional education and Fujian's actual demand for housekeeping and covered sections of housekeeping, child care and elderly care. After the training, trainees will be issued qualified certifications.

Edited by Lin Hong and Michael Thai