Graduate job readiness and the mismatch of expectations between employers and educational providers on the role and requirements of industry training provision are key issues facing the creative industries. This project proposes that educational providers need to move beyond chasing rapidly changing technology and business practice and concentrate on preparing young people to co-produce skills through formal training, work experience and informal practice, designed and delivered in partnership with industry. This project will bring researchers, employers, and creative practitioners together to establish a new international network and identify best practice to support young people to become creative talents. Team members' mutual visits to Liverpool and Shanghai will create opportunities to establish new business partnerships, develop education and industrial training provisions, and create a joint programme of research into creative career paths, which will increase the flow of creative talent in and between the UK and China. Two international consortiums will be held in Shanghai and Liverpool. They will provide space for different key stakeholders (researchers, students, creative practitioners and employers) to share their perspectives, expectations, and practices to develop creative talents, and identify innovative practices that are culturally-specific and can be used to develop training provisions. This will lead to rich opportunities for research-industry exchanges between Liverpool and Shanghai, building on the two cities' shared heritage and strong political, cultural and economic relations. The proposed activities will also form the basis for a future major research grant application on developing international creative talents, for example ESRC Research Grant.