Chinese contestants secured the top spot at the 47th WorldSkills Competition medal tally by winning 36 of the 59 gold medals, as the competition concluded in Lyon, France on Sunday night.
In addition to their gold medals, the Chinese team won nine silvers, four bronzes and eight medallions of excellence. They also achieved their fifth successive championship in CNC Milling and forth successive championship in the Bricklaying and Fashion Technology, respectively.
Two Chinese participants in the Industry 4.0 competition were honored with the prestigious Albert Vidal Award for achieving the highest overall score in the event.
"We won gold medals in 36 of the 59 events in the competition. We made many breakthroughs this year. We maintained our leading position in Manufacturing and Engineering Technology and Construction and Building Technology. And we also made breakthroughs in Information and Communication Technology and Social and Personal Services, which is really not easy," said Wu Liduo, deputy head of the Chinese delegation.
At the closing ceremony, the WorldSkills flag was officially passed from Lyon to the Chinese city of Shanghai, which will host the 48th edition of the competition.
This year's event, held on Sept 10-15 with the events running on Sept 11-14, drew around 1,400 participants from nearly 70 countries and regions to compete in the 59 skill categories. Sixty-eight Chinese contestants participated in all the skill categories.
China tops 47th WorldSkills Competition medal tally
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said Monday it had launched a combined missile and drone strike on U.S. air bases in Jordan in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli aerial attacks on Iran's Larak Island Sunday night.
The Iranian military targeted "technical and maintenance infrastructure," as well as areas where "enemy fighter jets" were stationed at the King Hussein and Al-Azraq U.S. bases in Jordan, inflicting heavy damage, according to a statement on IRGC's official news outlet Sepah News.
The IRGC warned that hostile actions would not weaken Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz, and said any further attacks would be met with a more severe response.
U.S. forces on Sunday struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, U.S. Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins said, marking the first known U.S. strike against Iran since late July.
"Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz," Hawkins said in a statement, adding that the U.S. military was "monitoring the area closely and remains prepared to protect the free flow of commerce" through the strategic waterway.
IRGC said multiple military personnel and civilians were killed or wounded in the "U.S.-Israeli" attack on Larak Island in Hormozgan province.
Citing unofficial reports, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said that at least two people were killed and two others injured in the U.S. "drone attack" on the island.
Larak Island is a small Iranian island located off the coast of Bandar Abbas, east of Qeshm Island and south of Hormuz Island.
Iran's IRGC says it attacked US bases in Jordan in retaliation
