How Does Digital Talent Development Respond to Skills Transformation?—Evidence From Vocational Education Practices in Guangdong Province, China

This study examines how vocational education responds to skills transformation under China’s Digital China Strategy and the rapid development of artificial intelligence. Focusing on Guangdong’s higher vocational education sector, it analyses how industrial digitalisation reshapes occupational competencies, curriculum systems, and teacher capabilities, and how institutions respond through programme upgrading, digital platforms, AI (artificial intelligence)-enabled teaching, and teacher digital competence training. The findings show that Guangdong has formed a digital talent development mechanism characterised by policy guidance, platform support, project-driven implementation, and evaluation-based feedback. The study argues that teacher digital competence and AI teaching capability have become key links connecting industrial demand, curriculum reform, and digital talent cultivation.