At present, China is undergoing a critical transition from a manufacturing powerhouse to a manufacturing leader. Master craftsmen, serving as the "spearhead" of technological innovation and the "transmission shaft" of industrial upgrading, play a pivotal role. How to cultivate master craftsmen through industry-academia-research collaboration—achieving positive outcomes from talent development objectives to practical implementation—and construct an educational ecosystem suited to China's national conditions has become an imperative.

For years, China has systematically advanced the cultivation of high-end technical and skilled talents, including master craftsmen, through collaborative industry-academia-research mechanisms. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the total number of skilled talents in China has exceeded 200 million, with over 60 million being highly skilled. For instance, Zhejiang Province, a pioneer in building a skills-based society, has cultivated 12.91 million skilled talents as of June 2024, with highly skilled talents accounting for 34.1%, aligning with its goal of becoming a strong manufacturing province. The Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Industrial Worker Development issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in 2024 proposed establishing an industry-education integration system, leveraging measures such as school-enterprise cooperation and corporate investment in education, with the aim of cultivating 2,000 master craftsmen by 2035. The Education Power Construction Plan (2024–2035), released in 2025, explicitly calls for building a modern vocational education system, improving mechanisms that integrate ethics and skills, and cultivating master craftsmen, skilled artisans, and highly skilled talents on the industrial frontlines.

To cultivate master craftsmen through industry-academia-research collaboration, institutional innovation and policy empowerment must be strengthened, with the government playing a coordinating role. By refining incentive policies, a system linking corporate participation in talent cultivation to tax benefits and targeted fiscal subsidies can be established. For example, provinces like Anhui and Guangdong offer a 30% reduction in education surcharges for certified industry-education integrated enterprises based on the number of trainees, thereby boosting corporate engagement. Modern information technology should be leveraged to create a big data center for industry-academia-research collaboration, integrating educational resources from multiple stakeholders, breaking down information barriers, and enabling precise supply-demand matching to lay a solid foundation for synergistic collaboration.

Industries and enterprises must take the lead in talent cultivation, reshaping the collaborative ecosystem. Leading enterprises should establish industry-academia-research alliances based on local industrial needs, partnering with industry associations and research institutions to create new models for collaborative talent development, build platforms for master craftsmen, and refine skill-training systems. Enterprises should actively participate in the construction of modern industrial colleges, take the lead in establishing joint training bases with schools, and provide students with real-world production environments and hands-on opportunities. Innovative approaches such as joint enrollment and co-training should be adopted to expand internship and employment channels, enhance the quality of talent cultivation, and provide robust industrial support for nurturing master craftsmen.

Local institutions should continuously expand practical education spaces, serving as the main hubs for collaborative talent development. These institutions must dynamically adjust their academic programs, curriculum development, and competency certification standards in line with core industrial technologies, ensuring talent cultivation keeps pace with industrial progress. They should actively guide students to integrate theoretical learning with practical training, helping them internalize the spirit of Chinese craftsmanship and strengthening their professional confidence and career identity. Through multi-stakeholder collaboration among the government, enterprises, and local institutions, a synergistic system can be formed—one driven by policy guidance, industrial support, and institutional education—thereby refining the industry-academia-research collaborative framework, innovating the cultivation of master craftsmen, and empowering the high-quality development of China's manufacturing prowess.