In December 2010, China Education Publishing & Media Group (China Education) was formed as a strategic merger to reshape educational publishing. The company includes five subsidiaries: Higher Education Press (HEP), PEP (Peoples's Education Press), LCP (Language & Culture Press), CEPIEC (China Educational Publication Import & Export Corporation) and China Educational Instrument & Equipment Corp. Combined, those groups account for revenues of 2.8 billion RMB. According to Li Pengyi, General manager of the new group, its focus is on the rapid development and international dimension in Chinese educational publishing, improving the group’s stock listing, and developing digital strategies.

With an annual output of 20,000 publications including books, audio, and digital, China Education claims to be the market leader in China’s publishing industry and is currently preparing for its IPO.

Key Company Developments in 2012

Financial:

Even as detailed breakdown figures may not be comparable and consistent, the overall development of China Education shows significant growth and international expansion.

However, an earlier announced IPO has not taken place at this point.

Ownership, Mergers & Acquisition, Internal Organization:

China Education was formed with the goal of establishing a Chinese global player in the educational publishing market.

International:

International partners of China Education include Pearson, Cengage Learning, McGrawHill Education, Wiley, Wolters Cluwer, Cambridge University Press, and Springer.

Higher Education Press announced a cooperation agreement with the Dutch journal publisher Brill.

In 2011, the company extended cooperation with the Thai Ministry of Education.

In 2010, HEP sold 179 titles to publishers in Europe and the Americas, making it the number one copyright exporter in China.

Digital:

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Bestselling Authors & Titles:

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Key Points for Analysis & Conclusions:

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Earlier Developments:

Higher Education Press (HEP), the largest publisher of educational books in China, was founded in 1954. The company has a major focus on publishing university textbooks on Science and Engineering.

Over the past two decades, HEP has broaded in scope from college textbooks to all-level books for postgraduate education, vocational education, continuing education, and online education, and covers topics including science, engineering, humanity and the arts, social sciences, education, economics, and management.

Higher Education Press also develops audio-visual, electronic products and on-line teaching materials.

Higher Education Press has published over 30,000 titles, currently around 4,500 annually, including 1,500 new titles with 65 million books produced per year.

HEP’s Academic Journals Division entered a partnership with Springer in 2006 to jointly publish 36 journals, which will be accessible online through SpringerLink as the Chinese Library of Science. Other collaborations have been established with McGraw-Hill Education and Cambridge University Press.

Educational materials from HEP have been adopted by the educational system in Thailand.

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