[19 June 2020, Hong Kong] Edvantage Group Holdings Limited (‘Edvantage Group’ or the ‘Group’, stock code: 0382.HK), the largest private higher education group in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (the ‘Greater Bay Area’), is pleased to announce that the Group has signed a cooperation agreement with Beijing Baidu Netcom Science Technology Co., Ltd. (‘Baidu’), a subsidiary of Baidu (BIDU.US). Baidu is the largest comprehensive internet service company in China which focus on information and knowledge, and also a world-leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform company. By integrating Edvantage Group’s advantages of resources and branding in educational field as well as Baidu’s leading AI technology and corporate cooperation network, both parties join efforts to promote talents development, technology innovation and resources exploitation, etc., further enhancing the Group’s capabilities of teaching, scientific researching and social servicing.
 
This year, the Group has also successively cooperated with Kingdee Group and Zhongxingxin Cloud in informatisation and financial sharing respectively, promoting the talents development model with industry-education integration of the colleges run by the Group. This cooperation with Baidu focuses on exploiting the development of college-enterprise partnership in 3 majors, including Big Data, AI and FinTech, continuously boosting the integration between industry and education.
Establishing Big Data and AI courses, Continuously Implementing ‘1+X’ Certificate System
Leveraging Baidu’s robust strength in technology and its extensive corporate cooperation network, this partnership is going to further optimise Edvantage Group’s each level of education, ranging from diploma programmes to internship training, and respond to the national ‘1+X’ certificate system as well as accelerate the promotion of industry-education integration, thus comprehensively enhancing the Group’s capability of developing talents, realising a win-win situation of college nurturing, enterprise employing and students being employed.
 

• Diploma and certificate programmes: 1) Combining both parties’ advantages and resources, the Group and Baidu will jointly establish majors of Big Data, AI and FinTech, etc.; 2) Baidu will plug its ‘ABC’ talents development system (including programmes system, engineering tools and software, smart devices and certification system, etc.) into the Group’s education system, providing students with online optional learning modules and Baidu’s certificate training programmes such as ‘ABC’; 3) Baidu will regularly assign field experts to the Group to lecture in offline courses and participate in work inside and outside campuses;

 

• External expansion training: For professionals with certain work experience, the two parties will introduce high-end corporate talents training, cooperating to conduct modulised, professionalised and precisionised education, with venues provided by the Group and training contents and teachers provided by Baidu;

 

• Internship and career: As for students majored in of Big Data, AI, etc. operated by the two parties, Baidu or its ecologically cooperated corporations will offer them internship opportunities and will consider permanent employment, depending on their actual circumstances.

 
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Bringing technology into campuses, facilitating innovation in talents development model
Through its advanced and leading AI and Big Data technology, Baidu is going to assist Edvantage Group with breakthroughs in campus construction and R&D work, thus intensifying the Group’s professional education and social servicing abilities and building up an innovative model of talents development.
 

• E-Campuses and laboratories construction: 1) Baidu will utilise its AI technology and application scenarios to support the Group to explore and construct e-campuses; 2) Both parties will jointly establish school-enterprise-cooperated laboratories or experiment bases: the Group is responsible for hardware facilities and will purchase professional laboratory apparatus and software related to data science and Big Data from Baidu, and Baidu is responsible for developing, managing and upgrading the software;

 

• R&D and technological innovation: 1) The Group will get in Baidu’s industry-education integrated innovation and technology centre, and Baidu will collaborate with the Group to establish the innovation and utilisation, technological application and services, etc. of ‘AI+’; 2) The two parties will together support the Group’s professional teachers to get in touch with cutting-edge information about scientific researching, such as the latest development of corporate informatisation technologies and the research and application of new technologies, favouring the future relevant R&D work; 3) Both parties will jointly apply for crucial digital economical R&D projects related to AI and blockchain in national and provincial levels.

 
As the largest private higher education group in the Greater Bay Area, the Group is convinced that through successive cooperation with numerous sizeable technology enterprises, including SenseTime, Kingdee Group and Zhongxingxin Cloud, they can fully utilise their advantages in each of their fields and adhere to the principles of ‘complementary advantages, resources sharing, mutual benefit and win-win development, and joint development’, nurturing more compound application talents adapted to the needs of industrial upgrade and realising the objectives of joint and win-win development.
 
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About Edvantage Group Holdings Limited
Edvantage Group Holdings Limited (‘Edvantage Group’ or the ‘Group’, stock code: 0382.HK) is the largest private higher education group in the Greater Bay Area, and an early mover in education sector in pursuing international expansion. The total number of student enrolments of the Group were 35,300 as of 29 February 2020. The Edvantage Group currently operates two private higher education institutions located in Guangdong Province, China, namely Huashang College Guangdong University of Finance and Economics (“Huashang College”) and Guangzhou Huashang Vocational College(“Huashang Vocational College”). Huashang College and Huashang Vocational College focus their programme offerings on business programmes, such as accounting, finance, economics and business English. The Group also operates a private vocational education institution named Global Business College of Australia (‘GBCA’) authorised by ASQA in Australia, offering vocational education courses and non-formal short-term courses. The Group has also acquired NYU Language School, a local private school in Singapore and has established the Singapore campus based in the existing NYU Language School. NYU Language School has been accredited as EduTrust by the Education Department of Singapore. The Singapore campus is expected to commence operation in the second quarter of 2020. It is qualified to offer internationally-recognised courses and accept local and overseas students in Singapore.
 
About Beijing Baidu Netcom Science Technology Co., Ltd.
Beijing Baidu Netcom Science Technology Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Baidu (Stock code: BIDU.US). Baidu is the largest Chinese search engine in the world and the largest comprehensive internet service company in China which centres on information and knowledge. In 2019, the number of Baidu users exceeded 1 billion, and that of daily active users of Baidu App exceeded 200 million, with its information flow ranking first in China. Baidu is also a world-leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform company. Baidu Brain is currently the only large-scale AI production platform in China that incorporates both software and hardware, with over 240 comprehensive AI ability output. According to the ‘In-depth Analysis Report of AI Technology Patent’ published by China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, Baidu made 5712 AI patent applications in 2019, ranking first in China.