"Many students, especially from developing countries, will benefit from this alliance. It will provide skills, knowledge and ethics that will increase work opportunities and promote sustainable livelihoods," says Zhang, who has worked at Ningbo polytechnic for 10 years now.

He is speaking in Nairobi, Kenya, after attending the fourth Partnership and Innovation for Skills Development in Africa, a World Bank initiative that wants African higher institutions to develop a regional benchmarking initiative to strengthen collaboration.

In the past, China has pursued collaborations with institutions in the United States and Europe to upgrade its own education to a world-class level and attract more foreign students. According to global data, there are more than 5 million international students moving to seek tertiary education. Chinese institutions can now boast of having the capacity to engage globally, owing to the country's success in industrial transformation.

The World Bank also recognizes the country's ability to develop benchmarking systems that can be used globally in upgrading the quality and relevance of its programs to the market.

Technical, vocational institutions will provide the knowledge required by the Belt and Road nations

Zhang attributes China's industrial revolution to the vocational education alliance's symbiotic relationship with local enterprises.

"We are located in the Beilun district, the most open district in Ningbo and Zhejiang province. The employment rate has been maintained at 99 percent for several years in the four parks and five bases there," he says.