This article reports the results of a study investigating the relationships between vocational education and the development of the local economy. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the degree of influence that vocational education has had on enterprise development in China and how vocational school education relates to work production; and (2) to describe and analyze the status and impact that vocational education has had on local economy. This study used qualitative research methods to discover the similarities and differences in the regions where vocational education exists and where it does not. It showed that there exists the possibility for China's vocational development to transform--from increasing the number of graduates to improving quality, and from steady development to accelerated development. From an economic viewpoint, this study showed that vocational education is a social phenomenon whose outcomes were divided between producing socially productive labor and other social activities. (Contains 1 table.)