On Dec 27, 2008, the 2008 "Brand Person of the Year", jointly hosted by Brand China Industry Alliance and Sanya Municipal Government, held an Award Ceremony in Sanya, Hainan province. Zhengdong Zhu, chairman and CEO of China Distance Education Holdings Limited (CDEL) (NYSE ARCA: DL) was awarded the "Innovative Person of the Year" and the "Education Industry Brand Person of the Year" at the event. Donghua Liu, director of Chinese Entrepreneurs Magazine and Lanting Lu, deputy chairman of Tixa Internet Technology presented the award to Mr. Zhu. "I am honored to be recognized," Said Mr. Zhu upon accepting the award, "It's not only a recognition of my own work, it's a recognition of the diligent effort of all the people of CDEL, and a recognition of the online education industry in China in general. We will continue our relentless effort to renovate the online learning landscape and continue to build a lifelong and comprehensive online education system.

Jialu Xu, vice chairman of standing committee of the Tenth National People's Congress and Feng Ai, chairman of Brand China Industry Alliance also attended the Award Ceremony. Well-known Entrepreneurs including Zhengdong Zhu, chairman and CEO of CDEL; Zhiguo Jin, chairman of Tsingtao Brewery; Xuebin Zhang, chairman of the Board of Skyworth Digital; noted public figures and brand experts including Yunchun Hou, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council; Weiguang Yang, honorary chairman of China Television Artists Association; Zeyan Chen, secretary genera of China Convention & Exhibition Society, also attended the Award Ceremony. Over 1,000 people from news media and provincial delegations were also present.

Ten elites from different industries were given "the Brand Person of the Year" award on the Ceremony. The names include Yongfeng Wang, captain of Chinese National Mountaineering Team and Beijing Olympics torch bearer to Mt. Everest; Jing Jin, prestigious Paralympic fencing athlete and Olympics torch bearer; Deren Xia, mayor of Dalian Municipal Government; Zhiguo Jin, chairman of Tsingtao Brewery; Zhiqiang Li, president of Unisplendour Corporation; Xuebin Zhang, chairman of the Board of Skyworth Digital; Tao Zhao, president of Buchang Group; Latis Tang, honorary president of Microsoft China and president of New Huadu; Wenbing Lu, president of Inner Mongolia Little Sheep Catering Chain; Fengying Wang, president of Great Wall Motor. In addition to Mr. Zhu, who won the "Innovative Person of the Year", Huiyao Wang, vice chairman of Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA) and chairman of WRSA Chamber of Commerce of China won "the Social Activity Award of Brand Person" of 2008.

The theme of the 2008 awards is "who has gained the most respect for China in 2008", and it aims to celebrate achievements and contributions made by individuals in the promotion of the development of personal and business branding of China. The main criteria for recognition is "Responsibility", "Power", "Influence", "Vision" and "Impetus".