An award ceremony for "2021's Craftsmen of the Nation" was held on March 2, 2022, jointly hosted by the All China Federation of Trade Unions and China Media Group. Ten craftsmen were awarded with the prize. Ai Aiguo, welding counselor of the Hunan Valin Xiangtan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (XISC), was Hunan's first one for this honor.

In order to promote and encourage the spirit of model workers, the value of work, and the pursuit of fine workmanship, and advance reform and development of industrial workers, the All China Federation of Trade Unions in 2018 initiated an annual awarding for “Craftsmen of the Nation”. Ten model craftsmen would be honored every year.

Ai Aiguo, a leading welder in Hunan, has been devoting himself to his welding work, striving to be excellent and innovative. He took the lead to found the XISC Welding Lab, which won the China Metrology Accreditation (CMA), and was appraised as a provincial key laboratory of welding techniques, and a national demonstration workshop of model worker innovation. He participated in several major super projects of the nation, and contributed to tackle hundreds of welding problems in the fields of metallurgy, mining, machinery, and electric power.

According to the Hunan Federation of Trade Unions, Hunan in recent years has given great impetus to promoting development of industrial workers and creating a "Huxiang Craftsmen" brand. There are 253 Huxiang Craftsmen cultivation bases at the county level and above, and 116 provincial demonstration model worker and craftsman innovation workshops. In 2021, Hunan launched 2,549 innovative or technical projects, put 1,518 innovative research outcomes into application, gained 1,174 patents, and achieved a total economic benefit of more than 900 million yuan.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn