ETS Selects ATA Testing Authority (Beijing) Ltd. as Country Master Distributor of the TOEIC® Test in China

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Princeton, N.J. (March 11, 2009) —

Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world’s largest educational research and assessment organization, has selected ATA Testing Authority (Beijing) Ltd., a subsidiary of ATA, as Country Master Distributor in China for its TOEIC® (Test of English for International Communication™) test. ATA is the largest test delivery service provider as well as the leader in IT educational reform in China.

The agreement was announced by officials of both organizations during a joint news conference today in Beijing. Under the agreement, ATA Testing Authority (Beijing) Ltd., will have exclusive rights to market, administer, and sell ETS’s line of TOEIC workplace English tests and products in China.

“China’s role in the global economy is increasingly important, with Chinese companies making significant progress in global business development,” say Dr. Philip Tabbiner, Senior Vice President of ETS Global. “This success has increased the demand for employees with professional English proficiency at Chinese enterprises and organizations, which in turn is expanding the need to assess English proficiency. ETS recognizes the value of working together with local Chinese organizations to leverage the resources and expertise of both companies to provide high-quality assessments to the developing Chinese market. ETS believes that ATA’s competitive advantages in the testing services industry make it the ideal distributor for effectively expanding TOEIC business in China, increasing the test’s recognition by Chinese firms and institutions and enhancing support of TOEIC clients in China.”

“We are pleased to work with such a prominent global test sponsor,” says Lin Wang, President of ATA. “As our first exclusive test delivery service agreement for a global test title, this marks a milestone in ATA’s development in leveraging our competitive advantages and strong market position in China. TOEIC is already a well recognized global English assessment brand in the world and amongst foreign enterprises in China.  Our goal is to enhance our service to our established customer base while expanding our market by bringing the TOEIC English assessment standard to a broader range of Chinese businesses. Our cooperation agreement with ETS will help raise the measurement of professional English proficiency in China to world-class levels.”

Nine thousand organizations in more than 90 countries use the TOEIC test, and over five million TOEIC tests were administered in 2008. A sampling of TOEIC users includes Qingdao International Regatta, China Southern Airlines, Thai Airways International, Xerox, Johnson and Johnson, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), LG Group, Motorola (China) Electronics, French Navy, Accenture and Seimens Mexico.

About ETS

At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® test and The Praxis Series™ assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide.

About the TOEIC Test

The TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) test is a workplace English-language proficiency test for people whose native language is not English. It measures the everyday English skills of people working in an international environment. TOEIC test scores indicate how well people can communicate in English with others in the global workplace. Developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) in 1979, the TOEIC test has become the world’s leading test of English-language proficiency in a workplace context. Nine thousand organizations in more than 90 countries use the TOEIC test and over five million TOEIC tests were administered in 2008.