ABSTRACT
China’s workforce is the world’s largest (ages 15 to 64). It has grown from 418.13 million people in 1964 to 966.80 million people in 2008 (China Statistical Yearbook 2009). China also has the world’s largest workforce participation rate: 96 per cent for males and 80 per cent for females (Zolingen 2006). The sheer scale of these numbers implies the need for well-established, formal education and training systems to equip people with skills and knowledge required by the rapidly modernizing Chinese economy. This is particularly the case given China’s increasing and more complex relationship with the global economy as this engagement increases the importance of education and training for China’s changing workplace.
