Hangzhou debugs an industrial robot. [Photo/ywicc.edu.cn]

Graduates from vocational schools in East China's Zhejiang province are playing a more and more important role in industrial development, local media reported on June 4.

Yan Shijie, a class of 2019 from the Zhejiang Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, was a typical case.

Spending most of his school days in the electronic and applied technology practical training room, Yan won several awards at provincial and higher level electronics design and robotics competitions.

He said the competitions were inspiring as he got the chance to tap into a world of algorithms, rather than learning empty phrases on a piece of paper.

Yan graduated from the school in 2019 and joined the research and development department at a local environmental technology company. He has since been promoted to software manager and receives a monthly income of 9,000 yuan ($1,263).

Yan's story reflects Zhejiang's emphasis on developing vocational schools and letting their graduates improve society. As many as 45.8 percent of higher vocational school students are majoring in advanced manufacturing, a pivotal industry in Zhejiang. Statistics also show that the province will welcome over 310,000 vocational graduates this year.