Oxford University Press representative Paul Riley visited Chinese online school Hujiang on May 15th, 2014 to sign an MOU, the first step in a series of strategic collaborations between the two groups.
The MOU allows Hujiang to teach a series of OUP's digitalized products, and aims to explore the opportunities for the publishing industry within the perpetually growing internet arena. Together, Oxford University Press and Hujiang hope to enable sharing of high-quality, digitalized products around the world.
Oxford University Press is the world's largest university press and amongst the oldest. Through its firm commitment to research, investment and publication, the press has gained prestige as a publisher of prime academic material across a broad spectrum of subjects. The press has additionally won global recognition as a reference for the English language, as the author of the famed Oxford English Dictionary and a number of best-selling English learning and teaching series.
Paul Riley, Director of ELT Channels and Partnerships at Oxford University Press, signed the memorandum in Hujiang's Shanghai headquarters last Thursday. During the ceremony, he applauded Hujiang's products and hinted that the e-platform's loyal customer base, made up primarily of young, white-collar workers (many who work for foreign-owned enterprises), might expect jointly-published materials in the future.
To celebrate the MOU, Hujiang has been developing Hujiang International Business English course which features the digitalized version of Oxford University Press' Business Result.
Hujiang Vice President Zhi Tao Chang, also present at the ceremony, emphasized that Hujiang has persistently devoted its efforts to exploring and advocating the immense opportunities for education on the internet. Chang listed a number of Hujiang's achievements since its inception in 2001, which include attracting over 70 million registered members and 200 million users – making Hujiang China's current leader in the online education industry.
Hujiang's products are available on computers as well as on a variety of mobile devices. Among them are an extensive web platform, an innovative social media network, an online store and, perhaps most exceptionally, an online school which offers an array of professional, highly efficient study services. Hujiang Online School's classes are catered for small children to adults respectively, and the broad subjects on offer include ten different languages, career skills and a variety of arts.
As study patterns shift away from traditional methods and embrace new technologies, both parties hope the collaboration will empower student communities with digitalized study resources available inside of China and out.
Courses like Hujiang's International Business English course meet fast-changing consumer demands, and simultaneously fill the Chinese market gap for a high-quality Business English program catered to Chinese students.
While the e-learning market is excelling all over the world, growth in China is particularly strong. The lucrative market size for online education in China alone is predicted to surpass 130 billion RMB (approximately 21 billion USD) in 2014.
