At the dawn of the year 2010, President Ge Daokai and Party Committee Secretary Ruan Zhiyong of the Open University of China (OUC)sent congratulatory message to extend their New Year greetings to all the staff members and retirees engaged in the educational work in all radio and TV universities in China (CRVTUs), to all the leaders and friends from all walks of life and school alumni at home and abroad who have given their concern and support to the development of CRTVUs. The full text can be read as follows:

Dear faculty members, students and friends:

With the year of ox hiding behind the curtain and the year of tiger showing its face on the stage, we witness the passing of the old and the arrival of the new year. In the backward glance, the fruitful year 2009 is going by and the hopeful year 2010 is coming in faithfully. At the beautiful moment of bidding farewell to the old and ushering the new, on behalf of the OUC, we would like to send our cordial greetings and best wishes to all the staff members working at the forefront of the CRTVUs, to extend sincere thanks and highest regards to friends from all walks of life and to the alumni at home and abroad for your long term concern and support to the development of CRTVUs and undertakings of distance education. We wish you all a happy year of tiger!

The year 2009 which was about to end was an extraordinary year. This year welcomed the 60th anniversary of the founding of our motherland. The grand National Day Parade in Beijing showed the image of a big progressing country, full of vitality, strength and prosperity. Faced with the impact of the global financial crisis, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have made clear and prompt decisions to respond resolutely after an overall analysis, and a stable and fast development of the national economy was thus sustained. In the test of the global financial crisis, China was the first country that stabilized its overall economy, which gave impetus to further achievements in national economic construction and social development afterwards. As for our university, this year the OUC has seen its 30th anniversary of founding. It is the high time for us to sum up the achievements, to share the joys and to plan for the future. This year was also the year when all the staff of CRTVUs earnestly studied the spirit of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, thoroughly applied the scientific outlook on development, attached importance to the overall picture of formulating a life long national educational system and built a learning society. Based on the 30 years of experience in running the university, wonderful achievements have been made in all fields by deepening the teaching reform and enhancing construction of its essence(referring to the capability building of the staff and internal organizations) as the main line and laying stress on the full implementation of "the 11th Five-Year" Planning for Development.

The year 2009 has been a year of demonstrating achievements and encouraging the gather of development initiatives. The OUC 30th anniversary celebration has been a milestone to carry on the past and usher in the future. It was also the starting point to strive for new glories. The complete success of the series of celebration activities of the OUC 30th anniversary and the 2009 International Forum on Open and Distance Education have displayed the great achievements of the past 30 years' development, the pioneering spirit and consolidated hard work of every member of the CRTVUs. All of this, in return, has added to the confidence, pride, coherence and capability of the CRTVUs as a whole.

The year 2009 has been a year of coordinated development in quality, structure and scale. We have energetically carried forward the quality-oriented construction of our essence. By adhering to the orientation of social needs, we have further optimized and readjusted the major structures, controlled the enrollment scale, carried out teaching reforms and teaching operation mechanism innovation. As a result, the teaching quality supervision has been enhanced, and the quality, level and brand influence of the open education and teaching have been boosted.

The year 2009 has been a year of thoroughly implementing work priorities, with fruits achieved one after another. With further implementation of the Six Initiatives and Six Projects, work focuses have stood out and highlights have appeared. This has driven the reform and innovation of all the school work, promoted the standardization of such routine tasks as enrollment, teaching management, examinations, resource building and teaching evaluation in a scientific way, laying a solid foundation for the future development of the University.

The year 2009 is a year of pushing forward cultural development and letting a hundred flowers blossom. The OU culture has developed vigorously, unfolding a colorful picture. The cultural construction has been dynamically integrated with the celebrations of the founding of the University, the student work and publicity work. Progress in one respect brought along progress in another, displaying the cultural spirit and mental outlook of the teachers and students in OUs around the country, and motivating students' enthusiasm for self-directed learning and promoting the social recognition of open education. Therefore, a fine development environment has been created for CRTVUs.

The unforgettable year 2009 left with us great inspirations, and the year 2010 is leading us to a new starting point based on the past glory, heading for new prospects. In the coming new year, we'll follow the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents, further study and practice the Scientific Outlook on Development, implement the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee, act according to the requirements of the Outline of State Medium- and Long-term Plan for Education Reform and Development, further clarify development approaches and goals, persist in the deepening of the teaching reform with the center on the improvement of teaching quality, make further efforts in advancing the school construction of its essence, probe into the laws on operating the open and distance education so as to ensure the objective of complementing "the 11th Five-Year" Planning for Development in the hope of laying a good foundation for the development during "the 12th Five-Year" Period and making greater contributions to the national economic and social development as well as the building of a learning society.

Every day presents more opportunities and good luck than man can possible use, and a thousand sails ride on the waves of the future. A new year brings new hope, and a new journey carries new dream. Let's join our hands to set out on a new path. Raising high the sails of hope, forging ahead with determination, and striving to be stronger, we will create a beautiful future with all CRTVUs together.

At last, we wish you in good health, success in your work, and with happy families in the new coming year!