China Direct

Pearson's International Education business announces strong China growth

 

CBI member Pearson recently released its results for 2012, reporting that its International Education business continued to perform strongly in China.

Student enrolments at Wall Street English in China increased 15% to almost 61,000, boosted by good underlying demand and the launch of ten new centres taking the total to 66. The students continued to rapidly acquire high-level English skills, with average grade levels achieved rising by 8% during 2012.

Enrolments at Global Education, Pearson's test preparation services for English language qualifications, increased 16% to more than one million through 73 owned and 372 franchised learning centres.

Please click here to read the full results for Pearson.

Penguin publishes sports bestseller in China

 

CBI member Penguin recently published its first acquisition of a title in Chinese for the China market,
Chinese tennis star Li Na's autobiography "Playing Myself".

The book was published in partnership with CITIC during the London 2012 Olympic Games, followed by a publicity and marketing period in September. Hitting 8th place in the overall bestsellers and 3rd place in non-fiction, the book is the first mainstream bestseller from a foreign trade publisher.

In additional news, Penguin Books China recently finished a six-week design marketing campaign, namely the "The History of Penguin by Design" exhibition in Beijing and Hangzhou and a Penguin pop-up store during the Beijing Design Week.

Featuring first editions and rare illustrations from the U.K., the exhibition drew more than 10,000 visitors and generated over eight million page views and feeds on Weibo. Penguin also set up a pop-up store south of Tiananmen Square, which offered children's story events and activities in English and Chinese, featuring Peter Rabbit, Spot, Flower Fairies, and Angelina Ballerina.

 

CBI Member China Successes August 2012

 

Dear CBI members.

We would like to share with you our monthly briefing for August 2012, which highlights the successes of a number of CBI members in China.

The attached August briefing covers 47 members, including (by alphabetic order): • Arup • Atkins • Benoy • BG Group • Bird & Bird • The BMW Group • Boeing • Burson-Marsteller • The Carlyle Group • Clifford Chance • The Coca Cola Company • CVC Capital Partners • Diageo • DLA Piper • E&Y • Eversheds • Ford Motor Company • Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer • Fuji Xerox • GE • GSK • Herbert Smith • HSBC • IET • IHG • Invensys • The John Lewis Partnership • J.P. Morgan • KKR • KPMG • Linklaters • Maersk • McDonald’s • Pearson • Penguin • Philips • Pinsent Masons • RBS • Royal Mail Group • Shell • Smith & Nephew • University of Birmingham • University of Liverpool • University of Nottingham • University of Wolverhampton • UPS • Willis

Your feedback and suggestions are most appreciated.

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, August 2012

CBI member success stories April 2012

 

A wide variety of CBI member companies had a successful month in China.

The following our featured in our monthly member update. Please refer to the attachment below for details. And don't forget to let the Beijing team know if your company has something to announce in May!  

• BBC
• Bentley
• Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP)
• British Allied Trades Federation (BATF)
• Burberry
• The City of London
• Clifford Chance
• The Coca-Cola Company
• Diageo
• Ernst & Young (E&Y)
• Eversheds
• Ford Motor Company
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Fuji Xerox
• Herbert Smith
• Hewlett-Packard (HP)
• HSBC
• IBM
• Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)
• J.P. Morgan
• KPMG
• Marks & Spencer (M&S)
• Pearson
• Penguin
• Pinsent Masons
• Rio Tinto
• Rolls-Royce
• The University of Birmingham
• The University of Edinburgh
• The University of Leeds
• Tesco

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, April 2012

 

 

   

Penguin China sells Paul French bestseller for adaptation to TV mini-series

 

[Image courtesy of www.penguin.com.cn]

CBI member Penguin announced the sale of the television serial rights to Midnight in Peking by Paul French to Kudos Television for adaptation into a major international TV mini-series.

Already a #1 bestseller in Asia, Midnight in Peking will be published by Penguin in the U.S. on 21 April 2012 and in the U.K. on 31 May.

Please download the full press release by Penguin below.

Download Midnight in Peking Television Rights PR April 2012

Pearson & Penguin report strong China growth

 

 

 

[Images courtesy of www.pearson.com and www.penguin.com]


CBI member Pearson recently announced its preliminary results for 2011, reporting sales up 6% at CER and adjusted operating profit up 12%, reaching £942 million, with growth in all businesses. In developing markets, Pearson reported revenues of US$1 billion, up 24% and now accounting for 11% of Pearson's sales.

In China, Pearson's international education business continued to make significant organic investments in expanding the footprint of Wall Street English. Student enrolments at Pearson's Wall Street English centres in China increased 25% to 53,000, boosted by strong underlying demand and the launch of 11 new centres. Pearson's students continued to rapidly acquire high-level English language skills, with average grade levels achieved by its students rising 11% during 2011.

In December 2011, Pearson also acquired Global Education and Technology Group, a leading provider of test preparation services for students in China who are learning English, for US$155 million in cash. Global Education has approximately 450 (115 owned and 335 franchised) learning centres in 150 cities across China.

CBI member Penguin, a division of parent company Pearson, achieved record profits despite the toughest trading conditions in a generation, reporting sales of £1.062 billion and operating profit of £113 million, representing underlying growth of 1% and 8%, respectively.

Penguin Chairman and CEO John Makinson said, "This is the most turbulent book market that anyone can remember. In spite of this, we have increased both our sales and our profits. This remarkable achievement has been driven by excellent publishing around the globe, demonstrated by market share growth in our three biggest markets, and innovation in every aspect of our digital publishing."

In China, Penguin launched a new English-language publishing programme in China and achieved its first number one bestseller in English with Midnight in Peking. Through its joint venture partnership with 99 Readers, Penguin published 20 classics in Chinese. In 2012, Penguin will publish its first major acquisition of a title for Chinese publication, international tennis star Li Na's autobiography.

Please click here and here to read the full annual results for Pearson and Penguin, respectively. 

CBI Member China Successes in Dec 2011

 

[Image courtesy of www.cbi.org.uk]

Kindly find attached more than 19 CBI member success stories that China Direct collected in December 2011.

Ranging from education to engineering and airports to AstraZeneca this snapshot of the best of CBI business shows just how commercially successful our membership has been throughout 2011.

China Direct looks forward to sharing even more success stories from its members in the fast approaching Year of the Dragon.

 Please download the full list of CBI successes below:

 Download CBI China, Celebrating member success in China, December 2011

UK company Pearson secures Huawei certification business

 

 

[Images courtesy of www.pearson.com and www.huawei.com ]

CBI member Huawei announced that it has chosen fellow CBI member Pearson VUE as its sole testing provider to deliver its global certification testing programme, the Huawei Certifications System.

Huawei Certification is a three-level certification in four areas: IP Technology, LTE Technology, Transmission Network Technology, and Cloud Computing Technology. The following Huawei IP certifications are currently available: Huawei Certified Datacom Associate (HCDA), Huawei Certified Datacom Professional (HCDP), and Huawei Certified Internetwork Expert (HCIE). The rest of the certifications will be released beginning at the end of 2011.

Effective 16 December 2011, all Huawei exams are being delivered globally through the Pearson VUE Authorised Test Centre network, which comprises more than 4,500 sites in 165 countries.

Fu Shiguang, Vice President of GTS, Huawei, said, "Moving our exams to Pearson VUE is an important decision for Huawei, desiring to grow our programme with the support of the world-leading testing company to expand coverage, utilise cutting-edge technology, enhance security, and bring up our service level.

"Pearson VUE's advanced technology, more secure and wider testing network, and its comprehensive testing solutions impressed us very much. We are confident that Pearson VUE's professionalism and expertise will serve us well as we expand Huawei's certification programme to meet an increasing marketing demand."

Please click here to read the full press release by Pearson.

Pearson makes major acquisition to boost China business

 

[Image courtesy of www.pearson.com]

 

CBI member Pearson announced yesterday that it has agreed to acquire Global Education and Technology Group, a leading provider of test preparation services for students in China who are learning English, for $155 million.

Global Education, which helps Chinese students and professionals prepare for internationally-recognised English language assessments, has a network of approximately 450 test preparation and training centres in 60 cities across China. Pearson estimates that around 500,000 Chinese students take these tests each year, a four-fold increase over the past five years, which has produced rapid growth in spending on related teaching and preparation services.

The acquisition will combine Global Education with Pearson's English teaching resources and technologies and its existing networks of English language centres for professionals (Wall Street English) and children (Longman Schools) in China. Pearson will see its reach in China expand from eight cities to 60, and will also enjoy a platform to develop beyond English language teaching.

John Fallon, Chief Executive of Pearson's international education business, said, "We are already helping to meet the huge demand in China to learn English by teaching growing numbers of professionals and younger children. This acquisition gives us the opportunity to help high school graduates gain the English qualifications they need to progress to university and achieve their own personal goals.

Through organic investment and complementary acquisitions, we're learning a lot about the very significant growth opportunities we see in China and about the value of combining our content and technology with high-quality school networks.

We are impressed by Global Education's commitment to its students and working together we can enhance further the quality of the teaching. It also significantly extends our scale, geographic breadth and range of education in the fastest-growing English language teaching market in the world."

Please click here to read the full press release by Pearson and here for additional media coverage.

Game, Set and Match. Penguin secures rights to Chinese Tennis Star Li Na Memoir

 

[Image courtesy of www.penguin.com]

Penguin's acquisition of rights to a book by a Chinese author to be published in the Chinese language is a first for the UK-based publisher, marking a new direction for Penguin's growing business in China.

Jo Lusby, Managing Director of Penguin China, said, "We are privileged to be able to work with Li Na to share her insights into the highs and lows of professional sport. With her reputation as a thoughtful, intelligent, straight talker, we believe this book will provide a fascinating window into the life of a professional sports player in China. This is a book that will not only appeal to fans of tennis, but also to those in China who are striving for success in this changing and dynamic country."

Penguin will co-publish Li Na's memoir, provisionally titled "How to Go West and Win", with a Chinese partner in early 2012.

Please click here to read the full press release by Penguin.