NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited Archives

NetDragon Demonstrates Digital Education Achievements at The Fourth Digital China Summit

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKG:777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that the Fourth Digital China Summit was recently held in Fuzhou City, Fujian, and as the exclusive special contribution brand partner of the summit, the Company has participated in the event and hosted the Digital Silk Road sub-forum for four consecutive years. During the summit, NetDragon shared its achievements in digital education and demonstrated more than 20 innovative digital education products and solutions such as teaching assistant robots, AR classes, NCET virtual experiments and 5G mobile smart classrooms, which were well-received by the participants.

Dr. Xiong Li, CEO of NetDragon, shared the Company’s experience in uncovering the value of education data to promote the development of digital education in various countries during the round-table dialogue session. He also attended the Digital Silk Road cum China-ASEAN Smart City International Cooperation Sub-forum, during which he delivered a keynote speech titled “Strengthening Digital Education Cooperation, Promoting ASEAN’s High-Quality Development” and shared the latest cooperation between NetDragon and different ASEAN countries.

“Over the past few years, our overseas education business has covered over 2 million classrooms, and our digital education products have accumulated over 100 million registered users,” Dr. Xiong Li shared NetDragon’s achievements in promoting digital education in different countries during the round-table dialogue session.

In 2020, NetDragon entered into a country-level partnership with Egypt’s Ministry of Education and the Company’s online education products are now used by 23 million teachers and students in Egypt. Dr. Xiong Li said that starting from Egypt, NetDragon will help support education policy, differentiated teaching and students’ personalized learning through uncovering the value of education data. Amid the opportunities and challenges brought on by the pandemic, NetDragon’s one-stop blended learning solution has received recognition in overseas markets. The Company has successfully expanded the country model to a growing list of countries such as Egypt, Ghana, Thailand and Malaysia. It has established deep partnerships with more than 20 “Belt and Road” countries and catered for their edtech needs.

Riding on the platform of the summit, NetDragon also made notable achievements in multiple projects. As one of the important outcomes of the Digital Silk Road Sub-Forum, NetDragon and UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE) have officially launched the “E-Library for Teachers” project, which will actively promote teachers’ capacity building and global education equity.

NetDragon and Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University have also jointly released the research report “Analysis on Teaching Behaviour in Informatized Classes”. Based on the big data from NetDragon’s lesson preparation platform 101 Education PPT, the report puts forward thoughts and suggestions for the deep integration of information technology and teaching, improvement of teachers’ ability in informatized teaching and optimization of smart education environment, through analyzing teaching behaviors such as tool use, content presentation and teacher-student interaction in classroom teaching, and learning behaviors such as inquiries, communications, construction and expressions.

The influence of the Digital China Summit has grown over the past four years, empowering the development of a “digital Fujian” and “digital China”. In the future, NetDragon will continue to maintain a stronghold in the domestic market, expand to new markets along the “Belt and Road”, facilitate global digital education cooperation and lead the development of quality education with digital technology.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users, including previous establishments of China’s first online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management’s vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the “classroom of the future” to every school around the world. http://www.netdragon.com/

For investor enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825
Email: maggiezhou@nd.com.cn
Website: ir.nd.com.cn

Edmodo, Subsidiary of NetDragon, Recommended by UNESCO for Distance Learning

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that Edmodo, a subsidiary of NetDragon, was one of the recommended distance learning applications and platforms by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in view of the disruption to education worldwide due to COVID-19. Edmodo is among the world’s largest and most active learning communities with over 100 million registered users, covering approximately 400,000 schools in more than 190 countries and regions.

According to UNESCO, 85 countries have announced or implemented suspension of educational institutions, hindering approximately 777 million students’ learning progress. UNESCO has updated a “Distance learning solutions” section on its website with a recommendation list attached to promote online learning through distance learning platforms. The recommended applications and platforms tend to have wide reach, a strong user base and evidence of impact. Most of the solutions are free and several support multiple languages.

During the suspension of various primary and secondary schools, NetDragon encourages teachers and students to engage in free online interactive learning through Edmodo for continuous learning progress. Prominent functions of Edmodo have gained popularity among teachers and students. Edmodo can be widely applied across multiple learning use cases, including lesson preparation, lesson delivery, as well as after-class studies and discussions, while providing extensive functions that include assignment distribution, quiz assessment, learning progress monitoring and teaching statistics. Embedded within a comprehensible interface similar to social media platforms, it is handy for teaching and self-learning to be combined and managed on a single platform. On top of that, Edmodo facilitates a swift interaction between teachers, students and parents. By raising or answering questions, sharing reading materials or intriguing videos and initiating discussions between teachers and students, it stimulates students to develop independent learning skills and areas of interest, and therefore, enhances mutual exchange of ideas with teachers. Apart from distance teaching, Edmodo also features remote student supervision, enabling teachers to monitor teaching data and further adjust their teaching tempo accordingly. Parents may also follow their children’s learning progress and assist in keeping up with the learning schedule during the school suspension period.

Recently, NetDragon has also partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud services in setting up contingency plans and providing free cross-border cloud services to suspended educational institutions in Hong Kong, so that teachers can easily upload and store teaching videos to cloud servers where local and cross-boundary school students can easily access the learning resources. Teachers can further assign homework or learning tasks to students and thus provide at-home learning support.

The recommendation by UNESCO is a recognition of Edmodo’s endeavors to online education, as well as its capability in handling situations of different kinds. Edmodo has recorded a substantive increase in new registered users recently, with significant growth in new and active users from Italy and Spain in comparison with the same period last year. NetDragon will continue to utilize Edmodo’s powerful strength in online education to provide distance learning support to users in affected countries and regions.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management’s vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the “classroom of the future” to every school around the world. For more information, please visit www.netdragon.com.

For investor enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825
Email: maggie@nd.com.cn
Website: ir.netdragon.com

JumpStart, Subsidiary of NetDragon, Collaborates with Beach House Pictures To Develop First-Ever Neopets Animated TV Series

Beach House Pictures is developing a new Neopets TV series, based on JumpStart Games’ successful kids property, shown above, and adding to a wave of new games, content and licensed merchandise launching for the brand

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, JumpStart, a leader in learning-based games for children, collaborated with Beach House Pictures, a Blue Ant Studios company on an exclusive deal to develop the first-ever Neopets animated TV series based on the hugely successful virtual pet universe that is a global sensation beloved by generations of kids the world over. This collaboration definitely marks another milestone of NetDragon and JumpStart teams’ efforts in rebranding and promotion of Neopets since it joined the JumpStart family in 2014.

As part of the agreement, Beach House Pictures is developing new characters and stories, tapping into the Blue Ant Studios animation team in Canada, to expand the storytelling and bring added dimension to the Neopets kid- and family-friendly brand. Beach House Pictures and Blue Ant Studios will be looking for co-production and platform partners over the coming months.

This agreement is the latest development for Neopets as the brand expands on multiple platforms and increases its reach in the global kids and family market. In 2020, JumpStart is unveiling the reimagined Neopets website, releasing an all-new mobile game for smartphones and tablets, and providing fans opportunities to bring the brand home through a curated line of licensed merchandise. First launched in 1999, Neopets has delighted millions of kids with game play centred around expressing themselves through the care of their virtual pets and being part of a global community in the digital world of Neopia.

Donovan Chan, Creative Director, Beach House Pictures, a Blue Ant Studios company, said, “Bringing a new Neopets series to the market has been a passion of mine for many years and seeing it come to life is a dream come true. We’re looking forward to collaborating with the Blue Ant Studios team in Canada and JumpStart to create stories and characters for devoted, long-time fans, while introducing Neopets to a new generation of kids.”

Jim Czulewicz, CEO of JumpStart said, “Extending Neopets into an animated series is the perfect way to give our millions of fans another new platform to discover and enjoy the brand. Beach House Pictures’ passion for the Neopets brand, and its track record of producing premium content for international audiences, makes them a great partner to build on a new wave of Neopet products and storytelling we are launching in 2020.”

Neopets is a virtual world where players can be their real selves and make friends while they explore stories, play games and care for their virtual pets like family. Players personalize their pets as they collect, purchase, and trade highly valuable items – all while engaging with a global community. Launched in 1999, Neopets became part of the JumpStart family in April 2014, where the brand continues to amass loyal fans globally. Available in multiple languages, Neopets regularly adds new content and activities to its collection of hundreds of games and puzzles, including annual events, tournaments, and narratives. As with all JumpStart products, Neopets is a completely safe and secure online community.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

About JumpStart
JumpStart is the leader in learning-based games for kids. Since 1991, JumpStart has set the standard in kids’ educational games by making learning genuinely fun. JumpStart produces creative, educational mobile and multiplayer online games under its flagship brands – JumpStart, Jumpstart Academy, Math Blaster and School of Dragons – as well as with partners such as DreamWorks Animation. Over its 20-year history JumpStart has remained dedicated to producing high quality learning-based products, earning the trust of millions of teachers, parents, and respected organizations such as Common Sense Media and the National Parenting Center. Formerly owned by Knowledge Holding, Inc., JumpStart is now a subsidiary of NetDragon, a global leader in building internet communities. JumpStart is based in Los Angeles, California.

About Blue Ant Studios
Blue Ant Studios is a leading international studio and production business. The business’ production companies are based in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and produce content in multiple genres, including Scripted, Documentary, Kids, Adult Animation, Factual Entertainment and Natural History. Blue Ant Studios works with all the major international streaming, cable and broadcasting companies as well as regional players in the markets it operates in. Blue Ant Studios, a subsidiary of Blue Ant Media, is based in Los Angeles with offices in New York.

About Beach House Pictures
Beach House Pictures (BHP), a Blue Ant Studios production company, is one of Asia’s largest independent rocks. Headquartered in Singapore and operating in the US and China, Beach House Pictures specializes in factual and unscripted programming for international streamers and cable networks, creating the high-profile series Ed Stafford: First Man Out, Wild City, Masterchef Singapore, Raffles: Remaking an Icon and China From Above. Other BHP divisions include children’s arm Beach House Kids who are behind scripted series My Buddy Bonemasher and the live action puppetry show Teddies; Beach House Entertainment produces formats and general entertainment programs like Record Rides and Cesar’s Recruit; Beach House Labs who experts in digital and branded content; and Beach House Academy, which offers outreach programs and skills training to established and aspiring producers throughout Asia. BHP launched its foray into scripted production in 2019, acquiring the rights to iconic Asian properties such as the 1970s action heroine Cleopatra Wong and Mr. Midnight, a best-selling kids horror fiction book series.

NetDragon Wins “The Best Value Education Stock” at Golden Hong Kong Stocks Awards 2019

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that the Company wins “The Best Value Education Stock” award at Golden Hong Kong Stocks Awards 2019. The Fourth Golden Hong Kong Stocks Awards was co-hosted by China-based leading Hong Kong and US stock information platforms Zhitongcaijing and Royalflush Finance. This award represents the capital market’s recognition and support on NetDragon’s achievements in education business.

“Golden Hong Kong Stocks Awards Ceremony” is one of the global leading professional assessors of Hong Kong and US-listed companies, which is also the benchmark for selecting the best value stocks and growth stocks for the year. “The Best Value Education Stock” award aims to recognise HK-listed education stocks with healthy corporate governance structure, leading industry position, excellent operation, sustainable and stable investment returns. NetDragon winning this award highlights the industry and investors’ recognition of the Company’s education business. “The Fourth Golden Hong Kong Stocks Awards” attracted more than 860 participating Hong Kong listed companies, with a total market value of over HK$18 trillion. Over 200 financial institutions including banks, securities firms, insurance companies, trust funds and asset management companies, and over a thousand professional investors attended this event. The final list of winners was selected by an expert committee based on factors over the past year, including revenue growth, industry rankings, corporate governance, business model, market presence and capital markets performance, as well as voting from the public.

After affirming the strategy of entering the education sector, NetDragon has developed a wide spectrum of education products which are highly-recognised by users, and created an one-stop online education platform which integrates tools, content, resources and services through strategizing proprietary R&D and M&A in parallel. NetDragon continues to expand its education businesses simultaneously in China and overseas markets. Up till now, in addition to sustaining its leading position in developed markets across Americas and Europe, NetDragon has partnered with Russia, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Serbia and other countries along the “Belt and Road”, and will further extend its global footprint in the future. In recent years, the Company has strengthened the development in the China market, including winning multiple bids of “Smart Campus” project in Fuzhou, strategic collaboration with Beijing Language and Culture University Press to build a global Chinese language learning platform, and cooperation with China Unicom to promote “5G + Smart Education”. On the other hand, NetDragon’s education subsidiary recently received a US$150 million strategic investment from Ascendent Capital Partners with a post-money valuation of US$1.35 billion. To date, NetDragon’s extensive education business footprint covers over 2 million classrooms in more than 190 countries and regions, benefiting over 100 million users.

NetDragon winning “The Best Value Education Stock” reflects capital markets and professional investors’ acknowledgement about the development strategies and investment value of Company’s education business, which is encouraging and motivational to the Company. In future, NetDragon will continue to innovate within education with advanced technologies, enhance product penetration and bring China’s education technologies, products and services to more “Belt and Road” countries, in order to achieve its mission of creating the “future classroom”.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management’s vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the “classroom of the future” to every school around the world. For more information, please visit www.netdragon.com.

For investor enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825
Email: maggie@nd.com.cn
Website: ir.netdragon.com

NetDragon’s Huayu and National Center for Educational Technology Collaborate on Virtual Experiment Teaching

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that Huayu, NetDragon’s education subsidiary, and National Center for Educational Technology (“NCET”) signed a cooperation agreement to jointly bolster the development and promotion of virtual experiment teaching system in primary and secondary schools. According to the agreement, with the support of the National Public Service Platform for Educational Resources, the two sides will integrate their respective advantages and build a “Virtual Experiment Teaching Service System”, in order to improve the quality of experiment teaching and laboratory construction of certain related subjects in primary and secondary schools.

Huayu and NCET will conduct collaborative research and development around experimental resources, software and service systems in this cooperation. The first is the development of a virtual experiment teaching database for primary and secondary schools, which will comprehensively cover supporting experiments including physics, chemistry, biology of junior and senior high schools and science disciplines of primary schools, including experimental videos, 3D interactive courseware, VR simulation interactive courseware, 3D/VR simulation testing and other forms of experiment teaching resources. The second is the development of a virtual experiment teaching software system for primary and secondary schools, including basic and optional software such as experiment teaching systems and experiment testing systems. The third is the development of a supporting service system for virtual experiment teaching for primary and secondary schools, with functions including backstage management, integrated user management, resource management and data analysis. The system will be introduced progressively, based on the development progress of experimental resources. The system will first select some qualified primary and secondary schools for trial, and after successful trial, this system will then be rolled out to primary and secondary schools all over the country.

In recent years, the construction of the virtual laboratory teaching system has received great attention from education departments and schools. In November 2019, the Ministry of Education issued the “Opinion on Strengthening and Improving Experiment Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools”, which requires junior high schools to include experiment operations in the academic examinations by 2023. Qualified provinces with sufficient resources can include physics and chemistry experiment operations in senior high school academic exams. The opinion also emphasizes innovative experiment teaching methods. For experiments with results that are difficult to observe or control, and dangerous or destructive experiments, they can be presented with the support of AR and VR technologies. The release of this opinion shows that AR and VR technologies are officially adopted in the field of experiment teaching.

Leveraging on its internet DNA and innovative mindset, NetDragon has taken lead in deploying “VR + Education”, and has applied VR technologies to the field of education and become a pioneer in the VR industry. Meanwhile, NetDragon also builds core educational technologies through self-development, investment, mergers and acquisitions, as well as integrating high quality global education resources through cooperation with world-renowned educational institutions, publishers and top-notch universities. The Company hopes to integrate its strengths to improve the level of experiment teaching in primary and secondary schools with modern information technology, in response to the country’s policies and initiatives. At present, NetDragon’s education business footprint extensively covers over 2 million classrooms in more than 190 countries and regions, benefiting over 100 million users.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

About National Center for Educational Technology (NCET)
NCET operates directly under the Ministry of Education and focuses on basic education and vocational education. Its main responsibilities include development of multi-media teaching materials, establishment of research, communication and service work on those materials, and the development and construction of educational and teaching resources. Furthermore, NCET trains personnel in modern distance-education engineering projects in primary and secondary schools, organises R&D and experiments of education technologies in schools, information technology education theory and application, development, transformation and promotion of related research results, and the development of various educational technology training work etc. It provides an important foundation to the construction of basic education informatisation.

NetDragon Aids Smart Education Construction in Serbia

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that NetDragon and Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia (“MOESTD of Serbia”) signed a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) on cooperation in smart education program for Serbia. Leveraging the Company’s advanced educational information technologies, NetDragon will work with MOESTD of Serbia to set up a smart learning environment including SaaS cloud platform, education software and hardware, value-added services, to achieve smart education, information connectivity as well as comprehensive education equality.

Serbia plays a prominent role in countries along the “The Belt and Road”. In recent years, Serbia has valued technological innovation and development, and has committed to digital education reform. Mladen Sarcevic, Minister of MOESTD of Serbia commented that Serbia is willing to learn from Chinese internet companies and will strongly support NetDragon in promoting nation-wide smart education construction in Serbia. Meanwhile, the Country will also cooperate with NetDragon to cultivate technical talents in order to upgrade Serbia’s innovation capabilities.

In accordance with the MOU, NetDragon will leverage advanced technologies such as cloud computing and AI to help Serbia build a national management and teaching system and a national development and service system for smart education. At the same time, NetDragon and Serbia will jointly build a smart education demonstration center to showcase leading education technological applications. In future, the center will serve as an example of a localized model, which includes experience center, content production center, R&D center, service center and informatized training center, and will represent the outcome of the joint effort between the Serbian Government, enterprises, universities and research institutions from Serbia. Through this smart education center, NetDragon will demonstrate to educators and the society different learning scenarios and will also provide resources and platform services for technological information and knowledge sharing in Serbia, in order to enhance user experiences from educators and learners, and to meet the needs of the public for smart education.

In addition, NetDragon will leverage and combine advanced technologies including Promethean’s education solutions including ActivPanel, smart classroom, VR classroom and STEAM classroom, to build an integrated digital learning platform that comprises teaching management, environment and resources & application for Serbia. And based on the Company’s learning platform, management platform (One Stop Learning) and mobile device management platform (MDM), NetDragon will build a national cloud platform for education services for the Country. On the other hand, Serbia plans to purchase tens of thousands units of smart classroom solutions in the next 2 years, which may become one of the collaborations between NetDragon and Serbia.

Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon, and Advisor to Minister without Portfolio of Serbia in charge of Innovation and Technological Development said that the Company will continue to work on R&D with the Serbian Government, enterprises, universities and scientific research institutions, to foster research and application of smart education, and to fully assist in the development of smart education in Serbia via collaboration in education training and services.

NetDragon and Serbia have multiple interactions in recent years. NetDragon invited Mr. Nenad Popovic, Minister without Portfolio of Serbia in charge of Innovations and Technological Development, to participate in the Digital China Summit in the past two consecutive years, and Liu Dejian was hired as Advisor of Minister. In October 2019, NetDragon, Ministry for Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia and Cabinet of the Minister in charge of Innovations and Technological Development signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in developing the Serbian Public Innovation Platform at the “The Fourth China-CEEC Conference on Innovation Cooperation”.

Under the “Belt and Road Initiative”, NetDragon, as a leading enterprise in Internet + Education, integrates advanced technologies including AI and VR to help developing countries upgrade smart education and promote digital education innovation based on the countries’ specific circumstances and needs. Up till now, NetDragon has been working with countries along “The Belt and Road” including Russia, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya. The signing of this MOU with MOESTD of Serbia marks another new step for the Company which will act as the starting point for international digital education cooperation for the 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

NetDragon and Beijing Language and Culture University Press Collaborate to Facilitate Chinese Learning Worldwide

*Agreements Signing Ceremony attended by NetDragon and the BLCUP*

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that, the Company and Beijing Language and Culture University Press (the “BLCUP”) have entered into a strategic cooperation agreement and a joint venture agreement (the “Agreements”) recently in Beijing, under which both parties will jointly set up a company and integrate advanced technologies, resources and ideas, for the establishment of a global Chinese language learning platform.

Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon delivered a speech on behalf of the Company at the event. Leaders from both parties, including Xiong Li, CEO of NetDragon, Lin Wei, Senior Vice President of NetDragon, Ni Haidong, Secretary of Party Committee of Beijing Language and Culture University (the “BLCU”), Zhang Wangxi, Vice Principal of BLCU, Zhao Junwu, Director of BLCU Asset Management Office and Hao Yun, Secretary of Party General Branch and Chairman of BLCUP attended the event.

In recent years, overseas demand for Chinese language learning has been rising along with its popularity. However, in an overseas non-Chinese environment, obsolete teaching materials and low effectiveness of online content remain some of the major obstacles of Chinese language learning, which lead to low learning efficiency and weak interest among learners.

To facilitate efficient and interesting Chinese language learning in foreign countries, NetDragon and the BLCUP have reached a strategic cooperation, under which both parties will jointly set up a company, which will use authoritative Chinese learning philosophy and education products as the core, supplemented by NetDragon’s 3D, AI, VR technologies, to construct an integrated, resourceful and wide-reaching global Chinese language learning platform, hence providing a complete set of digital solution to the Chinese language learning sector worldwide. This Chinese language learning platform will be open to different user groups including learners, teachers, and administrators, and will consist of three parts: international Chinese online learning, international Chinese teaching training and international Chinese teaching management, while integrating teaching, examination, learning and training to serve modern Chinese language learning.

Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon, commented that NetDragon was one of the pioneering companies to bring VR, AR and AI technologies to the field of education. The Company has high expectations to incorporate such technologies into Chinese language learning in order to help international students to learn the language more quickly and effectively, and to also understand the culture. In addition, with a lengthy track record in online gaming business, NetDragon enjoys superior advantage in content production. Currently, NetDragon is speeding up with internet technology development while progressing with the development of educational content.

Ni Haidong, the Secretary of the Party Committee of BLCU, commented that not only NetDragon has ongoing achievements in education, it also carries a strong sense of social responsibility, which reflects its vision and passion for education as a successful company. Ni Haidong added that he looks forward to furthering collaborations between NetDragon and the BLCU in future.

At the event, the BLCUP appointed Liu Dejian as “Honorary Director of the State Key Laboratory for Press and Publication Technology and Standards at BLCUP”. The BLCUP was enlisted as National Key Laboratories of Technology and Standards for Press and Publications. The two parties will jointly develop a platform for research and development and targets to have the implementation as industry standards such that they can provide reference for industry development.

Currently, the BLCUP is one of the most authoritative publishers in international Chinese language teaching and learning. It has a leading market position with more than 3,000 categories of international Chinese language teaching materials published. On the other hand, with over 30 years of operating experience in publishing Chinese textbooks, the BLCUP has accumulated access to a large number of top experts, scholars and teachers in China and overseas. These users can provide professional and authoritative guidance for the establishment of the platform, as well as the most realistic testing ground.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management’s vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the “classroom of the future” to every school around the world. For more information, please visit www.netdragon.com.

For investor enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825
Email: maggie@nd.com.cn
Website: ir.netdragon.com

NetDragon Showcased Intelligent Classroom Solution at “Africa 2019” Forum

Mr. Liu Dejian (first from front left), Founder and Chairman of NetDragon introduced Intelligent Classroom Solution developed by NetDragon, to His Excellency Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt (third from front left)

*Egyptian leaders met with NetDragon management team*

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that, the Company participated in the “Africa 2019” forum held in Cairo, Egypt on November 22-23, 2019. The theme of the forum was “Investment for Africa”.

NetDragon showcased its digital education products including Intelligent Classroom Solution, Virtual Laboratory and Promethean ActivPanel at the forum. His Excellency Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt, visited and experienced Intelligent Classrooms and Promethean ActivPanel, products that are well suited for education in Africa.

During the event, Egyptian leaders including President Sisi, Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, and Minister of Education Dr. Tarek Shawki met with NetDragon’s management team which included Founder and Chairman Mr. Liu Dejian, Vice Chairman Dr. Simon Leung, CEO Dr. Xiong Li, and Senior Vice President Mr. Chen Hong. Based on the experience of past cooperation, the two sides furthered their discussion about the future implementation of digital education in Egypt. Mr. Liu Dejian introduced NetDragon’s innovations in digital education to President Sisi, and expressed his gratitude to be part of Egypt’s education reform with achievements seen in 2019. NetDragon will uphold its vision in education, so that all teachers and students in Egypt can enjoy the knowledge dividends brought by cutting-edge educational technologies. In 2020, NetDragon will be providing the Intelligent Classroom Solution for Egypt, which can ease the problem of insufficient classroom capacity currently faced by many African countries.

As a country along the “Belt and Road”, Egypt has actively pursued partners on a global scale since the implementation of its five-year education reform program in 2018. Strengths of NetDragon’s such as global coverage, strong technical capabilities and innovative design proficiency provide a solid foundation for Egypt’s education reform. Although the infrastructure of African countries like Egypt is constantly improving, quality educational resources are yet to be ubiquitous, and education equality still faces challenges. The Intelligent Classroom Solution was designed and created precisely against this backdrop. Intelligent Classrooms are equipped with high-tech software and hardware such as Promethean ActivPanel, Mobile Device Management, and Edmodo Classroom. Featured with modular construction and design flexibility, Intelligent Classroom Solution enables easy transportation, quick deployment and high scalability, such that developing countries and regions can easily materialize and popularize quality education at low cost.

Earlier this year, the Egyptian Government and NetDragon signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. Egypt plans to complete the construction of 265,000 Intelligent Classrooms nationwide within three years and deploy NetDragon’s education technologies and equipment at the heart of the Intelligent Classrooms. In early 2020, the Company expects 100 Intelligent Classroom Solutions to be deployed in Egypt, and that it will cover more African countries in future. So far, 11,000 classrooms in Egypt are equipped with Promethean’s interactive panels, and 26,000 units will be deployed in the country next year.

In addition, NetDragon has launched in recent years “The Institute of Development and Education for Africa” (IDEA) under the “Belt and Road” initiative, and has received positive response from an increasing number of African countries. NetDragon is assisting Nigeria in building the “N-Power Project”. The Nigerian Government plans to purchase Intelligent Classroom Solution products from NetDragon, which are expected to cover 500,000 K-12 students in the country, and ultimately ease the problem of uneven distribution of educational resources in a fast, efficient and cost saving way, particular in remote areas. Meanwhile, NetDragon also assisted Kenya in developing digital education by building a public service platform for national education resources, a community network platform for national teaching, a training platform for national digital talent, and an experience center for national future education. In May of this year, NetDragon also signed a memorandum of understanding on digital education with the Government of Ghana, such that NetDragon will provide technical support for the development of future education in Ghana.

The “Belt and Road” initiative is unleashing enormous potential for China-Africa cooperation. Mr. Liu Dejian comments that NetDragon is willing to use “digital education” as the foundation to support Africa countries in achieving education innovation and upgrade. The Company will continue to seize market opportunities and deliver Chinese education technologies, products and services to more countries along the “Belt and Road”, in order to achieve its mission of “Building the World’s Largest Online Learning Community”.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

NetDragon Named “Top 50 China VR Companies 2019”, Reached Strategic VR Partnership with Nanchang Municipal Government

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that 2019 World Conference on VR Industry (“WCVRI”), co-hosed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (“MIIT”) and The People’s Government of Jiangxi Province, was held in Nanchang, Jiangxi on October 19-21, 2019. With the theme of “VR Adorns the World – VR + 5G for a New Era of Perception”, the conference aimed to encourage the industry to seize the historical opportunities at the initial stage of 5G commercialization, integrate the characteristics of the current 5G-enabled VR industry development, and explore how the 5G era can offer VR with more stable technical support, wider application scenarios and richer experience. Mr. Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon, Dr. Xiong Li, CEO of NetDragon and Mr. Chen Changchieh, Vice President of NetDragon were invited to the conference. Meanwhile, NetDragon was named as one of the “Top 50 China VR Companies 2019”, which reflected the industry’s recognition on NetDragon’s achievements in VR industry over the years.

This was the second consecutive year that NetDragon was invited by the WCVRI. Mr. Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon, delivered a speech titled “VR empowers education and fosters learning transformation” in the main forum. He elaborated on how NetDragon envisions to leverage its resources and technology advantages in VR, and put them into practice in the “VR+Education” field, so as to drive a revolution in education and to provide a better learning experience for Jiangxi and its surrounding regions. Mr. Liu also mentioned: “To date, NetDragon has released multiple ‘VR+Education’ applications such as ‘Virtual Laboratory’, with an aim of aiding teachers to carry out classes more effectively with the use of VR, 3D, and AI technologies, such that students can learn in a more interesting and efficient manner. In recent years, NetDragon has also developed ‘VR+Education’ tools such as ‘101 Mysticraft’ that are open to teachers, students, and content-creators. Additionally, the Company’s research team broke down the key elements of nine major subjects of K12 programs, and produced abundant VR courseware accordingly to ensure a tight correlation between the application content and current academic programs. This addresses the gap problem between traditional education and VR applications, and also serves as the cornerstone of NetDragon’s personalised education.”

During the event, NetDragon signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Nanchang Municipal Government, in the establishment of VR Innovation Center, VR Education Demonstration Center and VR Public Safety Education Center. As an advanced technology company, NetDragon will leverage its innovative DNA and technological advantages to collaborate with Nanchang Municipal Government to establish a VR Innovation Center that focuses on core values of “VR+Innovation” and “VR+Application Demonstration”. With the support of the state-of-art VR technologies, VR Innovation Center aims to foster industry development through in-depth cooperation across education, talent cultivation, healthcare and safety. Furthermore, NetDragon will integrate its rich experience and network in the education industry and R&D capability in digital education to establish a VR Education Demonstration Center, with the purpose of cultivating talent for the VR industry and corporates, improving digital education level of regional primary and secondary schools, and jointly creating a new education ecosystem.

Dr. Xiong Li, CEO of NetDragon, introduced at the conference that NetDragon combined 5G network with VR, AR and holographic technologies to create brand new remote interactive teaching solutions, in order to promote sharing of quality education and resources. In February, the Company cooperated with China Unicom to give an open lecture utilizing 5G network and holographic technologies to students across different regions simultaneously. Taking “VR+Education” as an entry point, NetDragon gradually implements new technologies and models to make industry development more imaginative. The integration of “VR+Education” and 5G technology will open up a new era of perception and the advent of 5G will lead to a booming VR industry.

In recent years, Nanchang has accelerated the construction of National VR Manufacturing Innovation Center and VR Town with high standards. Jiangxi Province Government has also joined force with Ministry of Education to build the first national occupation training base, among other measures. These measures visualize the explorations, efforts and results by Jiangxi province in its endeavor in VR development. Meanwhile, WCVRI has been held in Jiangxi for two consecutive years, allowing experts and leading institutions to focus on the development of the VR industry in Jiangxi. In future, NetDragon expects to bring its own advantages, past experience of cooperation between governments and corporates, and success stories to Jiangxi and provide reference.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.

Serbia President Met with NetDragon Chairman Joining Hands to Support Innovation and Education Reform

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that, Mr. Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of the Board of NetDragon was recently invited to meet with Mr. Aleksandar Vucic, President of The Republic of Serbia (“Serbia”) at the Presidential Residence. The two parties explored the collaboration possibility for NetDragon to set-up an office, a R&D Centre and the National Digital Education Platform in Serbia in order to promote innovation and education reform in Serbia and stimulate industry upgrade and economic development.

During the meeting, Mr. Liu Dejian shared NetDragon’s fruitful results achieved in digital education in recent years along with the plan to set-up an office and a R&D Centre in Serbia. With the support of its technology prowess on areas including AI and VR, NetDragon will assist Serbia in local education resources production and the research and development of educational application products including AI assistants and robots. It will also carry out trainings in teaching and game production to help young people’s career development. In addition, the two parties discussed the introduction of authorized museum branches of Nikola Tesla Museum in “digital education towns” that NetDragon is involved in and the establishment of “future education exhibition centre” in Serbia’s local universities.

Mr. Liu Dejian also shared his three wishes about the future cooperation with Serbia, “We hope Serbian students can have the opportunities to use e-books and learn with fun and efficiency, and perform experiments with ‘virtual laboratory’ in a safer and more convenient environment; we hope Serbian teachers can adopt the easy-to-use teaching tools for their classes and to teach more effectively with the help of AI assistants; we also hope youngsters in Serbia can access high-quality learning resources with the help of the training platform, in order to improve their knowledge and skills, and make learning an essential part throughout their lives, and hence, enabling them to make greater contributions for Serbia’s development.”

President Vucic commented, “Serbia considers China the sincerest friend and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in Serbia. We attach great importance to the science innovation and development of technology and we are happy to learn from China in this field. We are happy to provide our Chinese partners with full support in terms of government subsidies and concessionary initiatives. Serbia also looks forward to working with NetDragon in this project. Serbia’s education system is undergoing a digital reform and it hopes to cooperate with Chinese enterprises to cultivate AI technical talents, in order to drive technology innovation in the country.”

NetDragon has worked with Serbia for multiple times in the past. In 2018, Beijing Normal University, the University of Novi Sad in Serbia and NetDragon established a “joint virtual laboratory for future education”. And during the Digital China Summit this year and last year, NetDragon repeatedly invited Mr. Nenad Popovic, Minister without Portfolio of Serbia in charge of Innovations and Technological Development, to participate in the Digital Maritime Silk Road Sub-forum as an honorable guest. Mr. Nenad Popovic took the chance of participation to officially hire Mr. Liu Dejian as an advisor of his department to help enhance Serbia’s technology innovation capability.

As the “bridge” and intersection between Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Near East and the Middle East, Serbia plays an important role in the countries along the “Belt and Road”. Under the “Belt and Road Initiative” initiative, China and Serbia established a comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership in 2016, and the economic cooperation between the two countries expanded. NetDragon will use Serbia as a starting point to expand international digital education cooperation with the 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and export the “China Solution” for digital education.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users. These include China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu for US$1.9 billion in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China.