The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and XuetangX recently renewed their strategic partnership memorandum, under which the two parties will continue to work together to develop and promote high-quality education projects on international financial and accounting in the field of online education in China. Alan Hatfield, executive director of Strategy and Development of ACCA, and Li Chao, president of XuetangX, signed the renewal agreement, which was witnessed by Aileen Cai, head of Education of ACCA China, Echo Jia, manager of Education Development of ACCA China, Zhang Bo, vice-president of XuetangX, and Li Tenglin, assistant to the president of XuetangX. 

Alan Hatfield, executive director of Strategy and Development of ACCA (2nd from R) and Li Chao, president of XuetangX (2nd from L) sign the renewal agreement which was witnessed by Aileen Cai, head of Education of ACCA China, Jia Rong, manager of Education Development of ACCA China, Zhang Bo, vice-president of XuetangX, and Li Tenglin, assistant to the president of XuetangX.

ACCA is the global body for professional accountants, offering business-relevant and first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. XuetangX is a Chinese MOOC platform established by Tsinghua University in October 2013 as a strategic move to accommodate future trends and as an official platform for research exchange and application under the MOE Research Center for Online Education. 

XuetangX is committed to providing high-quality educational resources for institutions and the public through large-scale open online learning courses offered by leading universities in China and the rest of the world. The renewal of the partnership between the two parties sets the ground for future wider collaboration. Through deepened cooperation the two parties can further the organic integration of international finance and accounting education as well as online education, and explore new paths and models for international finance and accounting education through high-quality, digitized open courses. 

In terms of the significance of this strategic partnership, Alan Hatfield said, "we believe that the extensive cooperation between ACCA and XuetangX in online international finance and accounting education will attract more talents to the accountancy profession and accommodate future demands of the profession. XuetangX's innovative development strategy for its MOOC platform and models will help broaden the scope and channels of learning in this area, promote the sharing of quality education resources, and help more learners develop the necessary competencies in the international accountancy profession to advance their careers in this era when technological innovation and globalization keep their fast paces."

Li, president of XuetangX, said, "ACCA is committed to delivering public value and innovation and providing the knowledge and skills needed by businesses to meet the diversified needs of professionals and learners. XuetangX, dedicated to 'changing the world through innovating education', looks to promote the application and sharing of quality education resources, and facilitate education equality. We are pleased that both parties can expand collaboration on online education in various fields. In line with our strategic objective on providing comprehensive online education solutions, talent development solutions, and employment and lifelong learning solutions, we will further our cooperation with ACCA to provide more high-quality learning opportunities for learners interested in international finance and accounting."

The two parties will collaborate on three aspects: exploring opportunities for international finance and accounting online education projects along the Belt and Road, promoting blended learning, and developing quality resources and channels for continuing education for international finance and accounting professionals. 

Milestones for ACCA and XuetangX:

January 2016: ACCA and XuetangX signed a strategic cooperation memorandum; in September, the two sides launched the ACCA-X Chinese revision

February 2017: ACCA-X Chinese version optimized and re-launched

March 2018: Credit courses of ACCA-X Chinese version launched. 

June 2018: XuetangX introduced the ACCA-X English version, which has attracted approximately 80,000 registered students in total. The parties renewed the memorandum of strategic partnership to expand future collaboration on international finance and accounting education through high-quality, digitized open courses. 

XuetangX is a world's leading platform for lifelong learning. It is devoted to bringing together quality education resources from schools and enterprises, and providing low-cost, efficient access to knowledge, certificates, credits and even degrees. At present, there are 12 million registered users and more than 1,500 MOOCs courses. 

Source: xuetangx.com