Beijing, PRC, January 22, 2009 – China Distance Education Holdings Limited (NYSE Arca: DL) (“CDEL” or the “Company”), a leading provider of online education in China focusing on professional education, today announced that the Company has obtained approval to offer study process monitoring programs for self-taught higher education learners in Beijing and has signed a multi-year contract with Beijing City University, a designated administrator in Beijing, to offer the program.

China’s self-taught higher education program does not require students to enroll in or physically attend a traditional college or university or pass its Uniform Entrance Exams (Gaokao). Instead, students register for the program and study on their own. A degree is granted by the Ministry of Education (MOE) once students pass all exams relating to the degree and major for which they are studying, and satisfy certain other requirements. Traditionally, 100% of students’ exam scores come from the exams offered by the MOE or its designated bodies; however, with this approval, Beijing students enrolled in CDEL’s study process monitoring program will obtain a certain percentage of their exam score from the studying process monitoring program.

“Our study process monitoring program for self-taught higher education learners continues to gain momentum as we believe this program helps students improve their passing rates on self-taught higher education exams, which traditionally have low passing rates. Students actually study better with these specially designed high quality online courses that monitor their studying and provide help and support along the process,” commented Mr. Zhengdong Zhu, Chairman and CEO of CDEL. “Following the successful program launch in Tianjin Province, we are delighted to join forces with Beijing City University to extend our course offerings in Beijing. Beijing represents a significant market opportunity for our self-taught learners program. Statistics published by the MOE suggest that there are nearly ten million higher education examination takers nationwide each year, with Beijing contributing roughly 600,000. Looking forward, we will continue to promote this program in other provinces and we anticipate it to become one of our major growth drivers.”

About China Distance Education Holdings Limited
China Distance Education Holdings Limited is a leading provider of online education in China focusing on professional education. The courses offered by the Company through its websites are designed to help professionals and other course participants obtain and maintain the skills, licenses and certifications necessary to pursue careers in China in the areas of accounting, law, healthcare, construction engineering, information technology and other industries. The Company also offers online test preparation courses to self-taught learners pursuing higher education diplomas or degrees and to secondary school and college students preparing for various academic and entrance exams. In addition, the Company offers online foreign language courses.