In the morning of April 28th 2010, the launching ceremony of strategic cooperation between the Open University of China Multimedia Press and the Beijing Language and Culture University Press was held in the conference center of Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). The Secretary of the Party Committee of the Open University of China (OUC), Yuan Zhiyong, and his counterpart from the BLCU, Wang Lujiang, attended the ceremony and unveiled the nameplate of the new co-established Publishing and Media Centre.

At the ceremony, President of the OUC Multimedia Press, Liang Xiaoqing, introduced the advantages enjoyed by both parties and the history of cooperation between the two, as well as the significance of the strategic cooperation under discussion. President of the Beijing Language and Culture University Press, Qi Dexiang, also gave an introduction about the new mode of cooperation, its management mechanism and the cooperative objectives in publishing and popularising TCSL products for both parties.

President of the OUC Multimedia Press, Liang Xiaoqing

President of the Beijing Language University Press, Qi Dexiang

The co-established Publishing and Media Center combines the strength of BLCU Press in publishing products related to Chinese language and Chinese cultural education with the advantage shared by the OUC Multimedia Press in utilising multimedia to design and produce the Chinese language teaching materials and programmes for distance education. The Center would make the best of various media and new technologies to explore and develop the resources provided by both parties in a comprehensive and in-depth manner, and conduct the research, publishing and promotion work jointly in China and abroad, making it a publisher with international competitiveness.

The Publishing and Media Centre was co-funded by the two presses, who would also share the responsibilities and profit. The Administration Commission of the Center organised by both parties is a decision-making body enjoying the highest authority, in charge of examining and approving the project topics, management plan, investment scheme, annual budget, profit-sharing plan and loss-recovering plan, and taking responsibility for employing personnel at all levels. The positions of Director and Vice Director of the Commission are taken by the legal persons of both parties.

Secretary of the Party Committee of the OUC, Yuan Zhiyong

Secretary of the Party Committee of the BLCU, Wang Lujiang

Leaders from the OUC and the BLCU expressed their congratulations to the cooperation. Secretary Ruan said that sharing and integrating the educational resources was a key aim of open education. He added that the Publishing and Media Center should develop in accordance with the modern corporation management and operation model; the University would provide support as much as possible in terms of policy and resources and would grant the Center more freedom in doing business on its own. Secretary Wang reviewed the history of cooperation between the OUC and the BLCU and confirmed that this cooperation had a good foundation and bright perspective. She encouraged that the Center should establish a long-term, consistent and scientific development mechanism and should adopt a broad mind, seeking development together for achieving a win-win result.

The launching ceremony was presided by General Party Branch Secretary of the BLCU, Zhao Zhongping, attended by Yang Xiaotang, the Director of the Teaching Resources Management Division of the OUC; Liu Chen, General Manager of the Distance Education Publishing Group; Li Jin, Head of Publicity Department of the BLCU; Zhang Jian and Chen Bo, vice presidents of the BLCU publishing house; Wang Hongyu and Wang Biao, editors-in-chief of the BLCU publishing house, together with Li Fujia, the Director of the Publishing and Media Center, and Zheng Wei, Vice Director of the Centre.

By Wu Han, the OUC