As COVID-19 raged across South Africa in 2020, students and teachers participating in the Luban Workshop at Durban University of Technology found a very good use for the 3D-printing technology they were practicing: applying the technology to production of protective masks.

With the use of the workshop's technology and additional manufacturing equipment, faculty members and students were able to produce more than 8,000 protective masks, which they distributed for free to local hospitals, nursing homes and emergency assistance agencies.

They also applied technologies to design an air quality inspection application, which provided data support for local government agencies' decision-making.

"The Luban Workshop has brought advanced technologies to Durban in the battle against the pandemic," Durban Mayor Thomas Kaunda said at the time.

The fight against the pandemic is just one example of how the Luban Workshop, jointly established by the Tianjin Vocational Institute and Durban University of Technology in December 2019, has served the local community in responding to crises and improving the skills of its workforce.

Named after Lu Ban, an ancient Chinese woodcraft master, the workshops have risen in popularity in recent years to become a centerpiece of Beijing's drive to promote international cooperation on vocational education.

Meng Zheng, deputy director of the Tianjin Vocational Institute's international exchanges department, said the workshop in Durban has been integrated into the curriculum of the South African university.

"Our curriculum and teaching models are customized and systematically designed based on the characteristics and existing conditions of the university to cater to the needs of local students," he said.

At the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping announced that 10 Luban Workshops would be established in Africa to provide vocational skills training for young people.

To date, Chinese colleges have established 11 Luban Workshops in African countries, offering a wide range of professional training and help for the younger generation in these nations to build up their professional skills.

Some African nations have already benefited from the vocational education cooperation programs.

In Djibouti, the first 24 students trained by a Luban Workshop in fields such as railway operations and rail engineering technology have become interns for the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway.

That workshop, the first of its kind launched by China in Africa, is expected to help train talent, which is in short supply, to ensure the maintenance and operations of the railway, a flagship project built by Chinese construction companies within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In Rwanda, a Luban Workshop jointly established by China's Jinhua Polytechnic college and the Integrated Polytechnic Regional College Musanze offers students training in skills such as telecommunications, smart manufacturing, electrical automation technology and e-commerce.

Handiso Selamu Yisihak, an Ethiopian researcher at the Luban Workshop International Development Research Center at Tianjin University of Technology and Education, said a key factor behind the popularity of the workshops in Africa is that they cater to the needs to improve skills and promote industrialization in Africa.

"China's vocational training system is among the best in the world, because it is based on a very sound evaluation system and strong manufacturing sector," he said.

With the furthering of cooperation between China and African countries under the Belt and Road Initiative, Handiso said he expected more Luban Workshops to be set up in African countries.