2026 Belt & Road and BRICS Competition of Skills Development and Technology Innovation -- Arc Cup International Welding Competition (Hereinafter referred to as 2026 Arc Cup Welding Competition) will be held in October in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China, as an associate event of IIW Activities 2026. The Competition aims to establish an international professionals exchanging platform for skills development and technology innovation in welding, promote the welding skills development and technical exchanges, and speed up the cultivation of welding skills professionals so as to enhance welding technical skills level together. Hereby the related matters are as follows:

I.Competition Projects
1.The Tenth International Welding Technology Competition
(New Welding Technology, Welding Equipment, Welding Material, Welding Process and Its Application) 
Individual Competition: Adopt a format combining expert review of submitted materials with remote defense. Participants must submit materials conforming to one of the following combinations:
(1) Papers and presentation slides related to new welding technologies/equipment/materials/processes;
(2) Drawings+ photographs+process descriptions + presentation slides related to new welding technologies/equipment/materials/processes.
Time: October 15th-20th, 2026
Venue: Remote Participation by ZOOM Meeting
2.The First International Welding Robots Digital Twin Technology Application Competition
Team Competition (2 Competitors): Consist solely of practical operation tasks. Participants will remotely complete competition tasks within a digital twin environment, including welding robot debugging, fault diagnosis, programming typical welding processes, and simulated welding.
Time: October 15th-20th, 2026
Venue: Remote Participation by ZOOM Meeting and Digital Platform
3.The Thirteenth International Welding Robots Competition
(Welding Robots Programming, Operation and Maintenance) 
Team Competition (2 Competitors): Consist solely of practical operation tasks. Participants must collaborate to complete competition tasks including debugging welding robots, performing fault diagnosis, and executing welding operations. 
Time: October 15th-20th, 2026
Venue: JiangSu Shipping College (Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China)
4.The Fourteenth International Welding Skills Competition
• Single Welding Method
(1)Shielded Metal Arc Welding (111/SMAW)
(2)Gas Metal Arc Welding (135/GMAW)
(3)Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (141/GTAW)
(4)Oxygen Fuel Gas Welding (311/OFW)
• Carbon Steel Structural Parts Welding
Team Competition: 2-3 Competitors. Each team will complete the tasks of carbon steel structural parts in methods of (111 SMAW/135 GMAW/136 FCAW/141 GTAW)
• Aluminum Alloy Welding
• Welding Competition for Non-regulated Projects
(UT, Advanced welding equipment, Advanced welding technology performance, expert performance of special welding and cutting)
Time: October 15th-20th, 2026
Venue: JiangSu Shipping College (Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China)
5.The Fifth Virtual Simulation Welding Competition
Time: October 15th-20th, 2026
Venue: JiangSu Shipping College (Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China)
6.The Third Metal Additive Manufacturing Competition
Individual Competition: Consist solely of practical operation tasks. Participants must complete the following competition tasks: Based on the provided two-dimensional drawings or three-dimensional models of the test piece, use robot programming to complete the metal additive manufacturing of the test piece within the specified time limit.
Time: October 15th-20th, 2026
Venue: JiangSu Shipping College  (Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China)
7.The First Brazing Welding Competition
Individual Competition: Consist solely of practical welding tasks. Participants must use brazing techniques to complete competition tasks involving tube-to-tube, tube-to-plate, or plate-to-plate welds between copper and copper, or copper and stainless steel whether same-material or dissimilar-material joints.
Time: October 15th-20th, 2026
Venue: JiangSu Shipping College (Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China)
8.The First Laser Welding Competition
Individual Competition: Consist solely of hands-on welding tasks. Participants must complete welding assignments on carbon steel, stainless steel, or aluminum alloy whether same-material or dissimilar-material joints using handheld laser welding equipment.
Time: October 15th-20th, 2026
Venue: JiangSu Shipping College  (Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China)

II.Competitor Requirement
1.The Tenth International Welding Technology Competition
Undergraduates, higher vocational and secondary vocational students (including postgraduates); teachers from colleges and universities, and researchers from scientific research organizations; welding engineering
technicians; welders and relevant management staff, etc.
2.The First International Welding Robots Digital Twin Technology Application Competition
Competitors should be qualified robots digital twin technology.
There is no age limit for competitors. Students, teachers and employees of enterprises can participate in the competition.
3.The Thirteenth International Welding Robots Competition
Competitors should be qualified welding robot operators.
There is no age limit for competitors. Students, teachers and employees of enterprises can participate in the competition.
4.The Fourteenth International Welding Skills Competition
Welders with age between 18-40 years old and Students over the age of 16.
5.The Fifth Virtual Simulation Welding Competition
There is no age limit for competitors. Students, teachers and employees of enterprises can participate in the competition.
6.The Third Metal Additive Manufacturing Competition
There is no age limit for competitors. Students, teachers and employees of enterprises can participate in the competition.
7.The First Brazing Welding Competition
Students Group: it is available to the students over the age of 16. 
Staff Group: it is available to the enterprise employees and teaching staff with age between 18-40.
8.The First Laser Welding Competition
Students Group: it is available to the students over the age of 16.
Staff Group: it is available to the enterprise employees and teaching staff with age between 18-40.
9.Participation Teams
(1)International participating teams
(2)Technical and Vocational Education and Training Institutions
(3)Chinese Enterprises and Organizations

III.Assessment Standards & Ranking Method
1.Assessment Standards
Judges from China and other participating countries shall make assessment together to guarantee the fairness and justice of the refereeing activities according to international recognized standards and rules.
(1)The Tenth International Welding Technology Competition
This competition requires competitors to submit competition documents for expert assessment and make defense via online. Competitors should submit documents by one of the following ways:
Papers and presentation PPT related to New Welding Technique/New Equipment/New Material/New Technology;
Drawings + project photos + process description related to New Welding Technique/New Equipment/New Material/New Technology and presentation PPT.
(2)The Thirteenth International Welding Robots Competition
This competition follows ISO9606 international standards and regulations.
(3)The Fourteenth International Welding Skills Competition
For this competition, Chinese and foreign judges shall make assessment together based on ISO9606 international standards and rules to guarantee the fairness and justice of the refereeing and assessment.
(4)The Fifth Virtual Simulation Welding Competition
The competition is conducted by Augmented reality (AR) simulator. The evaluation and acceptance shall refer to ISO6947, ISO15608,etc., and the score will be analyzed and generated by simulator.
Evaluation indicators include: correctly set welding parameters, adjust the air pressure of welding cylinders, adjust the current and voltage, adjust the best welding posture, control the stability of vertical angle and horizontal angle, moving speed and distance between welding gun and welding line. Ensure that the weld width, width difference, height, height difference, welding line’s length, back penetration and plug hole welding scar diameter, diameter difference, height, back penetration and other indicators of butt welding meet the requirements, and there will be no penetration defects.
2.Ranking Method
(1)Group Award: This award is granted to teams/delegations according to its total scores. The total scores of each team/delegation are calculated by adding up the scores of each team/delegation’s 3 best individual competitors in single competition project. The team/delegation with less than 3 competitors cannot be ranked in Group Award.
(2)Individual Award: The best competitor in single competition project in each country (or delegation) can be ranked in Individual Award.
(3)Student Competitors Award: Student competitors of each school can be ranked in the Student Competitor Award.

IV.Recognition and Awards
1.Group Awards
Group Awards are granted to teams/delegations, which will be honored with Cups or Certificates in Gold, Silver or Bronze.
2.Individual Awards
(1) For the Tenth International Welding Technology Competition, there will set the First, the Second and the Third Prize, which will be awarded to individuals based on different groups, which may cover 60% of the competitors. And these winners will be awarded the honor certificates.
(2) For the Fourteenth International Welding Skills Competition, Thirteenth International Welding Robots Competition, Fifth Virtual Simulation Welding Competition, Third Metal Additive Manufacturing Competition, First Brazing Welding Competition, First Laser Welding Competition, there are totally twelve individual competition projects according to different welding process. The First, Second and Third Prize will be awarded for each project, and there are first, second and third place for the First Prize. The First Prize winners will be awarded certificates and medals. The Second and Third Prize winners will be awarded certificates.
(3) The instructor/coach of the first-prize teams will be awarded the Gold Coach Certificate, and the instructor/coach of the second and third prize teams will be awarded the Outstanding Coach Certificate.
(4) All competitors have the equal chance to win the certificate of “Excellent Welder Prize” for 2026 Arc Cup International Welding Competition.
3.Student Competitors Award
Student competitors of each school can be ranked in the Student Competitor Award.

V.Priority for International Participants
1.There are no any registration fees for international competitors who submit their application forms.
2.“National Winner” who won the First Place once in their national welding competition in 2025 or 2026 will be given reimbursement for one round-trip flight ticket and be provided with free accommodation by the Organizing Committee during the competition. The number of the National Winner in the First Place who can enjoy this priority is no more than 1. (Note: The round-trip flight should be limited to the economy-class seat based on the normal situation. The Organizing Committee will communicate the maximum reimbursable price for economy-class tickets in advance. In case of any special situation, please coordinate with Chinese organizer. )
3.Top three winners in their national welding competition will be provided with free accommodation by the Organizing Committee during the competition. The number of the competitors in each country who can enjoy the above two priorities is no more than 4. 
4.One team leader in a country can enjoy the free accommodation during competition.

VI.Organization Structure
Hosts:
China Chapter of BRICS Business Council 
Organizing Committee of Arc Cup International Welding Competition (OC ARCIWC)
International Alliance of Skills Development for Belt & Road and BRICS (IASDBR)
Belt & Road and BRICS Training Center for Skills Development and Technology Innovation
Organizing Committee of Arc Cup International Welding Competition
Co-hosts:
International Institute of Welding (IIW)
Asian Welding Federation (AWF)
China Association of Inventions (CAI)
China Center for International People-to-People Exchange, Ministry of Education
Chinese Welding Society(CWS)
China Welding Association (CWA)
China Staff Welding Technology Association (CWWTA)
China Association of Petroleum Engineering Construction (CAPEC)
Organizers:
ARC Science & Technology INC.
Beijing ARC Xinxing Science & Technology Co., Ltd.
JiangSu Shipping College
Ironman Academy(Daqing Vocational College)
Co-organizers:
China Welding Association Additive Manufacturing & Surfacing Division
China Welding Association Vocational Education Working Committee
China Building Materials Machinery Association Welding Technology Division 
Welding Technical Committee of China Association of Petroleum Engineering Construction (CAPEC)
Welding and Testing Professional Committee of IASDBR
Supporting Organizations:
Zhongguancun Science Park Management Committee
(Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park Haidian Management Committee)

VII.Application Method
1.Please fill in the attached electronic Application Form for 2026 Arc Cup International Welding Competition and email to the Secretariat by email jiakexinxing@126.com and arciwc@126.com.
2.The application deadline is 30th August, 2026.
3.Please do not forget to provide electronic photos (one inch electronic photo) for all the competitors and the scanned passport homepages of all participants.

VIII.Concurrent Activities
Belt & Road and BRICS Auditorium of Skills Development and Technology Innovation -- 2026 International Seminar on Welding Technologies Development and Technical Skilled Talents Cultivation and 19th Asian Welding Technology and Its Application Forum
It is honored to invite the delegate and expert from the participating country to attend this seminar and make the keynote speech. We believe your expertise and valuable insights would greatly enrich our discussions on the development of Welding Technology development & its application, technical skilled personnel training.

IX.Join in the Welding and Testing Professional Committee of IASDBR
The Welding and Testing Professional Committee of International Alliance of Skills Development for Belt & Road and BRICS (IASDBR) was established in September. 2025, which has attracted more than 100 experts and scholars around the world, devoted to the skills development & research, technology innovation and application on the welding and non-destructive tests. We sincerely invite you and nominate your experts to join this Committee as an Expert Member, Their profound insight will be helpful to the development of this committee and influence on the welding field. Please fill in the Appendix 3 & 4.

X.Contact Information
Secretariat of OC ARCIWC:
Contact Person:
Emily Zhao (+86-18612249270)   Luke Du (+86-15010650107)
Lisa Cui (+86-15910438067)     Henry Bai (+86-13621030121)
Sophie Gao (+18510331484) 
Website: www.arciwc.com;  www.inwsa.org
E-mail: jiakexinxing@126.com;  arciwc@126.com

Attachments
1.Application Form for 2026 Arc Cup International Welding Competition
2.Application Form for International Alliance of Skills Development for Belt & Road and BRICS (IASDBR)
3.Application Form of Membership Units for the Welding and Testing Professional Committee of IASDBR
4.Application Form of Board Member for the Welding and Testing Professional Committee of IASDBR