Ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), China's Vice President Han Zheng announced a new Chinese program for developing engineering talent. Over the next five years, China plans to train ten thousand engineers from developing countries, focusing on transport infrastructure and information and communication technologies (ICT).
The global community faces significant obstacles in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, including growing climate pressure, widening development gaps, persistent cycles of poverty, and insufficient infrastructure and limited development potential in Global South nations. A major contributor to these difficulties is a substantial deficit in engineering competencies.
Engineering utilizes scientific knowledge and technical methods to solve real development challenges within local economic, social, and environmental contexts. Engineers are not merely technical specialists but architects of sustainable development. They translate scientific and technological innovations into tangible goods, services, and infrastructure—such as roads, bridges, energy systems, water networks, and digital networks—which form the foundation for economic growth, social integration, and environmental protection.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), covering clean water and sanitation, access to clean energy, sustainable infrastructure, and cities, cannot be realized without a sufficient number of qualified engineers. Engineers contribute to the transition to renewable energy sources, improve urban planning, reduce waste and pollution, and build low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure. Thus, engineering capacity is a fundamental prerequisite for green, inclusive, and sustainable growth, not just technical knowledge.
Addressing engineering capacity gaps is critical for overcoming disparities in development. Many Global South countries lack the institutional and human resources necessary to plan, implement, and maintain complex infrastructure. Furthermore, they struggle with leveraging digital technology and artificial intelligence tools for a safe, equitable, and ethical transition to a digital 'green' economy. While AI helps engineers forecast energy demand, increase crop yields, and proactively identify infrastructure risks, it also carries risks such as unreliable outcomes and high resource consumption. Maximizing the use of these technologies depends on directing them toward the common global good.
China's engineering capacity building program represents a timely and highly necessary response. Building on previous experience, including the Africa Engineering Capacity Building Initiative and China-Africa talent training schemes, it directly addresses the local skills shortage that constrains the progress of Global South nations. The focus on transport infrastructure and ICT supports connectivity, trade, digital integration, and economic transformation.
The China-Laos railway has created over one hundred thousand local jobs, transporting 43 million passengers and 48.3 million tons of cargo in three years. The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway has provided over 55 thousand local jobs and strengthened cross-border links. Meanwhile, cooperation in digital infrastructure has helped mitigate the digital divide and opened international markets for small and medium-sized enterprises. Transport connects rural producers to markets and expands access to education and healthcare; ICT enables e-governance, distance learning, and telemedicine. Both sectors support inclusive sustainable development.
This initiative embodies international cooperation based on solidarity and shared prosperity, promoting people-to-people exchange, technology transfer, and a vision of a community with a common future for humanity. By investing in young engineers, it cultivates locally born sustainable development leaders.
In line with these efforts, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations' (WFEO) Engineering Capacity Building Programme for Africa (ECBAP), supported by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), strengthens Africa's engineering capacity. The focus is on digital capabilities and AI through improved engineering education, upskilling, and collaborative innovation.
ECBAP was launched in Kenya in March 2025 and conducted 'AI for Engineering' training in Kenya, Uganda, Cabo Verde, and Tanzania, with plans to cover more African countries in the coming years. Its first 'AI + Engineering' competition recently gathered 141 practical proposals from sub-regions across Africa aimed at solving African priorities, including the energy transition, food security, and sustainable water infrastructure, with promising solutions being selected for entrepreneurial incubation.
Experience from ECBAP has shown a high demand for engineering capacity development, particularly digital engineering capacity in African countries to accelerate SDG achievement, and African engineers show great interest in using digital technologies in their engineering practice to promote sustainable development. The newly announced Chinese engineering capacity building program arises from and responds to the urgent needs of numerous developing countries. As an important pragmatic step toward deepening the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the new program gives new momentum to ECBAP to expand training and transform skills into real local impact.
As the 2030 SDG deadline approaches, investments in human capital and engineering excellence will determine the success of global sustainability commitments. There can be no delay; progress must be built on qualified expertise and a shared global commitment.