Dear students, teachers and friends, 

As we say goodbye to the past year and welcome the coming of the new year, on behalf of the OUC I would like to wish a very happy new year to all our students, teachers and retired coworkers of the RTVUs at all levels across China, as well as all those who have supported the development of distance education over the past year. 

2012 was a remarkable year.

The 18th CPC National Congress successfully elected a new leadership. Led by Xi Jinping, the new leadership is united in using clear guiding principles and scientific philosophies to reach the next level of scientific development and help the Chinese people realize their dreams.

This year, important progress has been made on OUC pilot schemes. The OUC and open universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Yunnan have been successfully established. Important steps have been made in the strategic transition of the RTVUs and they now stand at a historical turning point. 

This year, as in every year, we grasped our responsibilities with both hands. We not only advanced the overall development of the OUC, we also focused on regular teaching work, strengthened the management of regulations, prioritized quality improvement, and ensured stability and orderliness. All this has laid a good foundation for the transition from an RTVU to an open university. 

Although the task seemed insurmountable at first, we are determined to face up to it step by step. The road to developing open universities with Chinese characteristics is a long one and we must continue to work together in the future to explore it. 

There is much to look forward to in 2013. 

In the coming year, we will follow the lead of the 18th CPC National Congress, setting our minds free to solve the problems that we face and advancing the overall construction of the OUC. We will strive to contribute to the construction of a lifelong learning system and the formation of a learning-oriented society.

In 2013, we will focus on the development of informatization, the teaching system, the operation mechanism, the credit bank and the construction of digital learning resources. By increasing the OUC’s web-based resources, developing its flexible  and high quality teaching system and continuing to expand to cover as much of China as possible, the OUC hopes to make further progress in teaching capacity, service level and social reputation.

This new year, we will continue to face up to our responsibilities. We will strengthen regular teaching and ensure that teaching activities are systematic and of a high quality. With this, we hope to accelerate the gradual transition from an RTVU to an open university.

We believe that, with the continued efforts of everyone involved, the construction of the OUC will reach new heights. 

Finally, I would like to wish you and your families health, happiness and good luck for the year ahead.

Yang Zhijian

President of OUC

December 31, 2012