Beijing, PRC, December 20, 2011 ¨C China Distance Education Holdings Limited (NYSE: DL) (¡°CDEL¡± or the ¡°Company¡±), a leading provider of online education in China focusing on professional education, today announced that it signed six new contracts throughout 2011 relating to its business start-up, or entrepreneurship training program offering. CDEL¡¯s business start-up training program aims to teach university students, job seekers and individuals how to start their own businesses using a practical, ¡°learning-by-doing¡± approach. The program leverages the concept and training framework of an international organization called EUROPEN/Pen International, and allows students to set up their own practice companies and participate in virtual business dealings with other practice companies from both inside China and around the world.
The new contracts signed throughout 2011 include:
- An agreement with the Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Xining City, Qinghai Province to provide CDEL¡¯s proprietary business start-up training systems and comprehensive start-up training services including the development of a business start-up training platform, system maintenance, technology support, professional training services and supplementary products. - An agreement with the relevant government authority of Zhenjiang, a city in Jiangsu Province, to offer business start-up training courses and teacher training courses. The agreement is aimed at helping Zhenjiang to improve its business start-up training programs and to better integrate the programs with the entrepreneurship education courses offered by regional universities. The scope of the service agreement includes the establishment of a comprehensive platform linking together three major business start-up training organizations: the China Practice Enterprise Network, China Practice Enterprise Network of Zhenjiang and all China Enterprise Networks in other relevant provinces. CDEL will help to create a multi-party forum for the exchange of ideas and development of training programs amongst these various parties by leveraging its online platform and training system.
- A three-year exclusive contract with the relevant government authority in Haikou, the capital of Hainan Province, to offer business start-up training courses and teacher training courses. CDEL will provide its proprietary business start-up training systems, supplementary products, professional teaching services, as well as developing and operating a training center in Haikou.
- An agreement with the relevant government authority of Anhui Province to provide CDEL¡¯s proprietary business start-up training systems and comprehensive start-up training services including the development of a business start-up training platform, system maintenance, technology support, teacher training courses, supplementary products, operations management and service quality tracking and management. CDEL will also provide at least two advanced teacher training sessions a year. - A two-year contract with the government authority of Yantai, a city in Shandong Province, to offer business start-up training courses, teacher training courses, supplementary products, system maintenance and management services. CDEL will assist the city in the building of a business start-up training system and platform.
- An agreement with the government authority of Changshu, a city in Jiangsu Province, to develop a business start-up training platform, provide system maintenance and management and teacher and student training courses. CDEL will also participate in the promotional and marketing campaign for the business start-up training courses.
Mr. Zhengdong Zhu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CDEL commented, ¡°We have made significant progress throughout the year on the expansion of our business start-up training programs provided through Yucai. The signing of these six contracts demonstrates the strong underlying demand among both students and local governments for effective business start-up training. We believe the growth opportunities for this business segment will remain healthy given the increasing competition among job seekers and the strong entrepreneurial spirit evident throughout China today. We will continue to work hard to establish new agreements with additional cities and provinces in the year ahead.¡±
