English Language Training Profitable Industry in China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 23, 2002

English Language Training Profitable Industry in China

English language training is becoming a profitable industry in China, as more Chinese become aware of the importance of the usefulness of an international language, according to Tuesday's China Youth Daily.

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In Beijing

Statistics show that last year, the industry in Beijing made a gross profit of 700 million yuan by providing English language training courses to nearly 200,000 people.

The oral English course of Beijing New Oriental Language School reported an income of over 90 million yuan last year, while the Eastern English Services and Wall Street English schools all grew rapidly in the city at the same time.

Sources from the Eastern English Services say that it has set up four schools in Beijing. Each has brought in 500,000 yuan monthly, while the Wall Street English language schools charge trainees more than 20,000 yuan each for one term.

In Shanghai

Shanghai is another of the country's hot spots for English training. The Wall Street Institute (WSI)invested 40 million yuan to set up branches there and very quickly attracted more than 1,000 trainees, mostly from foreign companies.

The Beijing New Oriental School also began rapidly expanding. It extended its business to Shanghai over one year ago, and so far over 10,000 people have been through the school.

In other cities

Zhongshan city, a major city in south China's Guangdong province has its sights set on parents' pockets. An international English training school there offers training to children aged from three to 12 years old. The cost of teaching materials for one person can reach up to a staggering 7,800 yuan.

Experts say that the thriving English language training market should be attributed to Chinese people's aspiration to speak English. With China's entry to the World Trade Organization, more Chinese are realizing that only with a good grasp of English, can it be possible to survive in today's more open China.

The Beijing Evening News reported that the craze for learning English even extends into temples. A nun from Lingquan Temple which is located in south China's Liuzhou city, recently attended an English language class.

The nun said that she often met foreigners visiting the temple and wanted to say hello to them but her poor English always embarrassed her.

"I hope I can speak fluent English someday so that I can freely communicate with foreigners and even introduce Buddhism to them", she was quoted as saying.

Over the past two decades, as China became the world's seventh- ranking exporter and eighth-ranking importer, people able to speak and write English fluently have been the first choices in the Chinese labor market as demand for them far exceeds supply.

But the shortage is expected to be more acute after China's upcoming entry into the World Trade Organization, which means more foreign trade, investment and foreign visitors for China, thus more professionals with a good command of English will be needed.

The Chinese people and the government have or are taking a number of emergency and perhaps far-reaching, long-term measures to cope with the challenge.

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