Before you spend money on a certificate, check whether it is on the National Vocational Qualification Catalogue or on the list of evaluation agencies filed with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security

Some outfits run courses, charge fees, and issue certificates at will under the banner of new occupations or skill grades, and some impersonate authoritative bodies; the ministry has run targeted crackdowns. Before you enroll, check three steps: whether the occupation is on the National Vocational Qualification Catalogue, whether the issuer is an evaluation agency filed with human-resources authorities, and whether the certificate number can be found on the official platform. If it cannot be found, do not enroll.

Cost

No money. One check, about a dozen minutes.

Benefit

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has run a nationwide campaign for this. The document names the problems as "some institutions and units arbitrarily holding training, evaluation, and certificate-issuing activities under the names of new-occupation vocational qualifications, vocational skill grades, and the like, charging fees at will and issuing certificates indiscriminately; some institutions and units making false or exaggerated claims, even organizing training, evaluation, and certificate issuance under the name of an authoritative body." Measures include joint investigation with cyberspace, public security, and market-regulation departments, "severely cracking down on evaluation and certificate-issuing by fake appraisal bodies and by evaluation agencies filed with human-resources authorities that are being impersonated." Non-compliant promotion on websites and new media is shut down under the law. The document also requires "guiding the public to learn the channels and methods for checking certificates, and to judge whether a certificate is lawful and what it is worth"

Notes

Check in this order. First see whether the occupation is in the National Vocational Qualification Catalogue; if it is not, it is not a national vocational qualification. Next see whether the issuer is an evaluation agency filed with human-resources authorities. Finally go to the official skilled-talent evaluation certificate query platform and see whether the certificate number can be found. If it cannot be found, do not enroll. Certificates with the words "international," "advanced," or "registered," or that promise "guaranteed pass" or "income through hanging the certificate," carry the highest risk. For "credential upgrade" courses that sell diplomas, see Section 31, item 10 (credentials count only if they can be found on Xuexinwang (学信网 — China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center)).

Sources · 1

1. 人力资源社会保障部 (2022). 关于开展技术技能类「山寨证书」专项治理工作的通知. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2022-03/18/content_5…