On 20 May, the 4^th Conference on the Interior Decoration Industry Development, organised by the China Building Decoration Association, took place in Chongqing. Some 600 representatives from decoration enterprises, real estate developers, material suppliers, educational institutions, and the press from all over the country attended the event.

At the conference, LIU Xiaoyi, President of China Building Decoration Association, and CHU Min, Secretary of CPC Committee of Shanghai Urban Construction Vocational College (SUCC), jointly inaugurated the China Building Decoration Industry School. Established by the China Building Decoration Association together with the SUCC, the China Building Decoration Industry School aims to further implement the State Council's National Vocational Education Reform Implementation Plan and the Vocational Skills Upgrading Action Plan (2019-2021), to carry out the strategy of revitalising the country through science, education and talent, to accelerate the cultivation of a highly skilled workforce in the building decoration industry, and to train talent with strong hands-on skills and comprehensive vocational qualities for transformative, upgraded and high quality industry development.

LUO Sheng, Secretary General of the Interior Decoration Branch of the China Building Decoration Association, and GAO Shoulei, Dean of the School of Architecture Environment Art, signed the strategic cooperation agreement. SUN Yaolong, Vice President of the School of Architecture Environment Art, shared upcoming work plans on behalf of the newly-founded school.

The China Building Decoration Industry School is the first of its kind established between the SUCC and an industry association. It marks a solid step for further exploring collaboration with the industries. The School of Architecture Environment Art lays the foundation for the development of the Industry School with its four strong majors, namely building decoration engineering, environmental art design, architectural design and ancient architecture engineering.

For the next phase, the Industry School will focus on the fields of design, construction, technology, materials, products and BIM technology application. The School will first utilise the strength of the industry and the SUCC to develop the 1+X certificate for assembly decoration with supporting teaching materials and online courses. Secondly, it will vigorously carry out non-academic education and training. There will be further education programmes for corporate executives and design directors, training courses for industry leaders, skill-enhancement workshops for interior designers, career-switching designers, and interested college students, as well as skill training and certification programmes for workers. Thirdly, it will set up an online learning and employment platform for the building decoration industry. Fourthly, it will pool resources from members of the China Building Decoration Association as well as provincial and municipal industry associations to strengthen cooperation with other vocational colleges, application-oriented undergraduate programmes and training institutions in the form of branch locations. Fifthly, it will serve as a demonstration base for collaboration between industry and education, so as to provide solutions for school-enterprise cooperation as well as internships and practice opportunities for teachers and students.