Zi CORPORATION
NEWS RELEASEFor immediate release (Calgary, AB Canada)
August 8, 2000
Oztime.com signs cooperation agreement with Tsinghua University
Calgary, AB (August 08, 2000) - Zi Corporation's (NASDAQ: ZICA) (TSE: ZIC) subsidiary, Oztime.com will be providing on-line education services for Tsinghua University, one of China's most prestigious institutions. This brings Oztime.com to a total of three education contracts prior to their commercial launch this fall. Oztime.com has also won contracts with the China Central Radio and Television University (CRTVU) and China's e-Commerce Association. Initially, Oztime.com will focus on developing e-commerce certified courses to be used by Tsinghua University's continuing education programs.
"As an education service provider, Oztime.com has the technology and infrastructure to deliver quality education to students nationwide," says Yanning Li, president, Oztime.com. "Oztime.com's educational platform, virtual community and administrative tools combined with Tsinghua's courseware will create a world-class distance education offering."
Tsinghua attracts top students from across the country with its programs in science, engineering and management; earning the reputation as China's MIT. In terms of distance education, Tsinghua is a leader among Chinese educational institutions, boasting an extensive distribution network of 72 off-campus teaching sites in over 30 provinces. Tsinghua advanced its reputation in distance education when the Ministry of Education recently chose Tsinghua as the administrator for the national distance education project delivered through CERNET (China Education Research Network).
Currently, over 7,000 students register for Tsinghua degree programs delivered through distance education, and another 10,000 register for non-degree certified courses. As Tsinghua expands it capability through the Oztime.com partnership, the number of students who receive long-distance certificate training is expected to grow tremendously.
Each year, approximately 12 million senior high school students graduate in China - but approximately 60 per cent of these graduates are underemployed because they do not have access to further education, particularly in the fields of technology. Oztime.com expects to recruit thousands of potential students each month, through Tsinghua's distance education programs and CERNET connections.
Under the cooperation agreement with Tsinghua University, Oztime.com will:
- co-develop continuing education courseware in partnership with Tsinghua University,
- webify a selection of Tsinghua University's current offering,
- conduct joint market research regarding course offerings,
- promote courses to additional audiences; and
- organize on-line student administration.
Courses will be offered on a user-pay basis with the partners sharing the revenues.
Zi Corporation is a leading provider of embedded software technology and educational products and services. The company's core product, eZiText™ connects people to short messaging, e-mail, e-commerce, Web browsing and similar applications in almost any written language. Zi's wholly owned subsidiary, Oztime.com, is China's first Web-based education service provider. Zi supports its strategic partners from offices in Calgary, Beijing, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Shenzhen and Stockholm. A publicly traded company, Zi Corporation is listed on the NASDAQ National Market (ZICA) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ZIC).-30-
For further information, please contact:
Karen Attwell
Manager, Investor/Media Relations
Phone: (403) 233-8875
Email: investor@zicorp.com
Web site: www.zicorp.com
Mr. Qingjun Diao
Tsinghua, Continuing Education College
Assistant Director
Phone: 86-1360-129-7739
Email: diaoqj@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
Web site: www.tsinghua.edu.cn