A German engineer gives advice at a factory in Taicang, Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: tcfbgw]

Taicang in East China's Jiangsu province will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its establishment of a Sino-German dual education system, local media reported on Sept 24.

Accordingly, the Taicang Sino-German Dual Education Innovation and Development Forum will be held in the city in November. A skill contest for technicians from China and Germany will also run from Nov 9 to 12.

In 2001, Taicang became the first Chinese city to introduce a dual education system from Germany to train skilled workers for the manufacturing industry. To date, the system has cultivated over 10,000 technicians and managers.

The education system helped Taicang experience rapid development in Sino-German economic cooperation. 

As of now, there are 395 German companies in Taicang, bringing in over $5 billion in investment. These businesses are generating an annual industrial output of more than 50 billion yuan ($7.25 billion).