The Bayi School of the Open University of China (OUC) and the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House (ECPH) signed a strategic-cooperation agreement in Beijing on the 16th of October, 2018. The two sides will carry out in-depth cooperation in defense education, the development and publishing of teaching materials, courseware production, and so on.

The director of the ECPH, Liu Guohui, spoke at the signing ceremony, praising the OUC Bayi School for the large number of military professionals it has trained over the past twenty years. Next month the ECPH will celebrate its 40th anniversary, and it is honoured to be able to establish a partnership with the Bayi School at this moment. Cooperation will also help implement the military-civilian integration proposed by the central government and promote the development of distance education for the Chinese military and of national safety publications, as well as advance the integration of education, publishing and new technology. The ECPH possesses experienced editors and advanced facilities, and is willing to share its resources with the Bayi School. In return, the ECPH expects the Bayi School to support ECPH projects. The next step will be for the ECPH to provide support to its New Media Centreto implement specific work together with the Bayi School.

The dean of the OUC Bayi School, Zhang Yichen, said in his address that it was a great honour to enter cooperation with an influential press like the ECPH. The Bayi School has always endeavoured to help develop military professionals and draw attention to the importance of the military. This agreement will help develop distance education for non-commissioned officers and the education of military personnel overall. Both sides will benefit in terms of defense education, development and publication of teaching materials, courseware production, and so on, and the school sees a bright future in having a strong partner like the ECPH.

The ECPH was founded on 18 November, 1978, with the approval of the State Council. Over the past forty years, it has become a large-scale national publishing house engaged in the publication of encyclopedias and other reference books, as well as academic works and general-interest books. The ECPH was also one of the first presses to produce digital publications. From 2001 - 2011, the ECPH developed text-graphics CDs, as well as online and data-bank versions of the Chinese Encyclopedia based on the Baike terminology data bank. In 2011, the third edition of Chinese Encyclopedia, adapted to the demands of the digital era, was approved.

Leadership teams and other personnel from both sides attended the signing ceremony, including ECPH deputy chief editor Liu Hang; Hu Chunling, editorial director; Guo Jiyan, director of the digital department; Zhang Xinzhi, director of the New Media Centre; and deputy director Xie Xue. From the OUC Bayi School deputy deans Wang Chunli, Dong Pinghai, the Vocational Education and Training Centre director Shao Jiang, and its deputy directors Xiong Wei and Jiang Qi, among others, attended.

By Yu Lanrui, OUC Bayi School