In Guiyang, China, what began nearly two decades ago as a modest academic exchange between China and Southeast Asia has grown into a deliberate architecture for regional human development. The 2026 China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week unveiled a constellation of initiatives — AI-driven learning platforms, vocational credentialing frameworks, and entrepreneurship infrastructure — each designed to answer the same enduring question: how do people and their skills move freely across borders in a way that benefits everyone? The gathering reflects a quiet conviction that economic and political int