Beijing time on the morning of October 20, the 44th WorldSkills Competition closed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Chinese athletes performed well, winning a record-best 15 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze, including industrial machinery assembly, CNC milling, industrial control, masonry, tile veneer, information network wiring and other industrial projects.

But there was one item that China "actually" didn't win, and it didn't even make the top three -- the cooking competition.

What's going on here?

The official website shows that the Chinese region is represented by four groups of contestants from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

The organizing committee said the competition requires professional chefs to test a variety of different skills in different situations to meet customer needs.

There is only one most important criterion for judging: whether it is good or not. The customer's satisfaction with the food is the key to winning the competition.

Other requirements include culinary skills, menu variety, cost control, the ability to control the kitchen and inventory, and also the need to coordinate a range of processes in the back of house, the restaurant, etc., to ensure that the guest has the best possible experience.

A professional kitchen must have a clean environment with specialized tools to ensure the safety of the chef. And it must also have the ability to handle different ingredients from around the world. In other words, the competition tests not only the level of cooking, but the overall ability of an executive chef.

The winner was an Italian from Europe's "food capital," with Thailand in second place and Denmark, Malaysia and Austria in third.

And in 2015, a contestant from Taiwan won the competition, "defending the honor of Chinese cuisine".