CDEL Wins Thirty-Eight Awards at Industry Ceremonies; Chairman and CEO Named Among the "Leaders in Education Industry"

BEIJING, Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Distance Education Holdings Limited (NYSE: DL) ("CDEL" or the "Company"), a leading provider of online education in China focusing on professional education, is pleased to announced that it has received a total of 38 awards presented at various education industry ceremonies by the end of 2011, a strong endorsement of the Company's leading position in China's online education market.

Mr. Zhengdong Zhu, the Chairman and CEO of CDEL, was named one of the "Outstanding Leaders in the Education Industry" at the Tencent 2011 Chinese Education Industry Review. Mr. Zhu was also named one of the "Top Ten Leaders in the Education Industry" at the NetEase 2011 Chinese Education Industry Review and was named among the "2011 China Leading Figures in the Education Industry" at the Sina 2011 China Education Ceremony, in addition to receiving four other awards for his achievements at prestigious education industry events.

CDEL was named as the "Most Powerful Education Company" at the Tencent 2011 Education Industry Review. CDEL was also named a "Top Ten Education Brand" at the NetEase 2011 Chinese Education Industry Review, a "2011 Leading Education Company of China" awarded at the Sina 2011 China Education Ceremony, and a "2011 Best Top 10 Professional Education Company of China" at the Eighth Educationist of the General Assembly. Furthermore, CDEL won five additional outstanding awards at other industry events.

Moreover, ten of CDEL's distance learning websites and schools won a total of 23 industry awards, including the awards received by the Company's new verticals, such as its business start-up training divisions.   

Mr. Zhu commented, "It is a great honor for me personally and for CDEL to be named alongside other outstanding educators and companies in China, and I am grateful for the recognition we have received by such well known media organizations and industry associations. The honors are a reflection of CDEL's success, and demonstrate that our new business initiatives are gaining strong momentum and industry-wide recognition. Looking forward, we are confident that both our core online education services and new verticals will continue to gain traction in China, which we believe will lead to increasing long-term shareholder value."

To view the full list of awards, and for further information on China Distance Education, please visit http://ir.cdeledu.com.

Selected Awards Received by Mr. Zhengdong Zhu:

• "Outstanding Leaders in the Education Industry" awarded at the Tencent 2011 Chinese Education Industry Review
• "Top Ten Leaders in the Education Industry" awarded at the NetEase 2011 Chinese Education Industry Review
• "2011 China Leading Figures in the Education Industry" awarded at the Sina 2011 China Education Ceremony
• "Outstanding China Educationist" awarded at the Sohu 2011 China Education Ceremony
• "2011 Top Ten Leaders in China's Education Industry" awarded at the Xinhuanet 2011 Education Forum

Selected Awards Received by CDEL:

• "Most Powerful Education Company" awarded at the Tencent 2011 Education Industry Review
• "Top Ten Education Brand" awarded at the NetEase 2011 Chinese Education Industry Review
• "2011 Leading Education Company of China" awarded at the Sina 2011 China Education Ceremony
• "2011 Top 20 Education Brands in China" awarded at the Sohu 2011 Annual Education Ceremony
• "Most Influential Education Group" awarded at the Xinhuanet 2011 Education Forum
• "2011 Best Top Ten Professional Education Company of China" awarded at the Eighth Educationist of the General Assembly

Selected Awards Received by CDEL's Websites and Schools:

• www.chinaacc.com: "2011 Ten Best Online Education Companies" by Tencent
• www.med66.com: "2011 Top Ten Online Education Companies" by Sina
• www.jianshe99.com: "2011 Top Ten Online Education Brands" by Sohu
• www.zikao365.com: "2011 Top Ten Online Education Brands" by Xinhuanet
• www.chinapen.org: "2011 Most Innovative Professional Companies" by Xinhuanet
• Zhengbao Yucai: "2011 Top Ten Professional Education Brands" by Sohu

About China Distance Education Holdings Limited

China Distance Education Holdings Limited is a leading provider of online education in China focusing on professional education. The courses offered by the Company through its websites are designed to help professionals and other course participants obtain and maintain the skills, licenses and certifications necessary to pursue careers in China in the areas of accounting, law, healthcare, construction engineering, information technology and other industries. The Company also offers online test preparation courses to self-taught learners pursuing higher education diplomas or degrees and to secondary school and college students preparing for various academic and entrance exams. In addition, the Company offers online foreign language courses and offline business start-up training courses. For further information please visit http://ir.cdeledu.com.

Contacts:

China Distance Education Holdings Limited
Lingling Kong, Investor Relations Manager
Tel: +86-10-8231-9999 x1805
Email: [email protected]

Investor Relations (HK):
Mahmoud Siddig, Managing Director
Taylor Rafferty
Tel: +852 3196 3712
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE China Distance Education Holdings Ltd.