CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- “Li, let’s take a photo as a souvenir.” At 15:30 on June 25, at Chongqing International Expo Center, the Second “Belt and Road” International Skills Competition Jewel-crafting Competition Event came to an end, and Guillaume who is a competitor from France took the work to take a photo to commemorate the event with the Chinese competitor Li Laige.

“This is a French buddy I met on the field.” Li Laige told the journalist that the greatest reward on the field was the international friendship.

Li Laige is 22 years old this year. Although he is the post-00s, he is a teacher of Jewelry in Guangzhou Nanhua Industry and Trade Technician College. From the age of 15, Li Laige began to learn jewelry production, and won the championship in the Second National Vocational Skills Competition. This competition is the first time for Li Laige to participate in the international event, and he said that “my original intention to participate in the competition is that friendship comes first, competition second.”

On June 24, the Jewel-crafting Competition Event was officially opened. In addition to Li Laige, there were competitors from Afghanistan, Australia, Cote d’Ivoire, France and other countries. They were given the “test”, that is to take “La La Land” as the theme, and use a palm-sized gold piece to make a harp style jewelry.

“It’s a great test of skills.” Huang Chaoyang, a staff member of the Competition Event, explained that because the machining precision needs to reach 0.01 millimeter which is thinner than a hairline.

For Li Laige, the requirements of the competition were still within his “range”. Compared with the “embroidery skills”, what made him feel a little hard was the tight schedule. He said: “We have to complete the work in two days, and we have to compete for six hours a day.”

In order to allow more time for a lunch break, Le Laige and other competitors chose to stay in the lounge with burgers and milk for lunch, which gives them the opportunity to communicate with each other.

“Hello, my name is Li Laige. Nice to meet you!”

“Hi, Li, my name is Guillaume. Nice to meet you too!”

In the lounge, Li Laige greeted Guillaume, a French competitor, in not-so-fluent English, and Guillaume responded warmly. When it came to filing, hollowing, polishing and other specialized knowledge, they used translation software to communicate.

After the competition, the competitors placed their works on the table and the judges scored them one by one. However, they did not seem to care about the final score, but took out their cell phones to freeze the works. After the competition event, Li Laige, Guillaume and many other competitors became good friends. (Translated by Liu Hongyan, Fathom Language Limited)