The concept of the "spirit of the craftsman" was first introduced by Premier Li Keqiang in 2016 to encourage Chinese companies to improve the quality of their products. As the annual parliamentary sessions of China, dubbed the "two sessions", are about to start, He Wei, a member of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), plans to submit a proposal on promoting the spirit of the craftsman.
Most people think of craftsmen as no more than skilled workers who can only repetitively complete one operation, but there is more to them than that; for instance, Mr He told the Shanghai news portal The Paper that the spirit of craftsman could be defined as being devoted to making things with patience, persistence, precision and perfection, and he also advised how to promote it.
According to Mr He’s suggestions, staff training on the spirit of the craftsman within companies is necessary, since corporate cultures could combine this spirit with an understanding of modern enterprise to pursue deep reform. In schools, lessons on the craftsman’s spirit should be added to the curriculum to instil in students the correct values of employment before they start work.
An incentive system is needed, as He stressed, saying that rewards and financial support for skilled workers could inspire more passion towards their work and urge society to pay closer attention to the role of craftsmen.
The same article also reported that producing creative and high-quality products requires the spirit of the craftsman, and Mr He added that marketing platforms should be supported as well, since this spirit should be promoted through marketing to the public.
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