BEIJING, Oct. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A consortium of leading Chinese universities today announced that it has selected edX's open source platform to power China's newest and largest online learning portal, XuetangX. The massive open online course (MOOC) and blended learning portal will feature courses from member universities led by Tsinghua University in Beijing. XuetangX will increase Chinese students' access to quality education using cutting-edge online technology,  while transforming learning on Chinese campuses and enhancing inter-university collaboration.

At a press event at Tsinghua University in Beijing on October 10, representatives from the Chinese Ministry of Education and partner Chinese universities, including Tsinghua University Vice President Si Yuan, announced the initiative. Universities that will join Tsinghua University in the XuetangX initiative include Peking University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University, China Agricultural University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, National Tsinghua University, and other universities in Greater China.

"The institutions that have joined together today are among the leading universities in China with a long history of offering the highest quality education," said Anant Agarwal, president of edX, who attended the ceremony in Beijing. "Their choice of the edX open source platform for XuetangX is a vote of confidence in our global partners' efforts to build a world-wide movement to improve education."

The first XuetangX courses will launch on October 17. While powered by edX's open source platform, XuetangX will be independent, separate and distinct from edX.org. Tsinghua University joined edX's xConsortium in May 2013, becoming the first university in Mainland China to create online courses – "History of Chinese Architecture" and "Principles of Electric Circuits" – which are available at edX.org.

About edXEdX is a not-for-profit enterprise composed of 29 leading global institutions, the xConsortium. Founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, edX is focused on transforming online and on-campus learning through groundbreaking methodologies, game-like experiences and cutting-edge research on an open source platform. EdX provides inspirational and transformative knowledge to students of all ages, social status, and income who form worldwide communities of learners. EdX is focused on people, not profit, and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the USA.

Contact:Dan O'ConnellAssociate Director of Communications, edXoconnell@edx.org 617-480-6585

SOURCE edX

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