BEIJING, Oct. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- China Online Education Group ("51Talk", or the "Company") (NYSE: COE), a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Salt Lake City-based American International Schools, LLC ("AIS") and American International School of Utah ("AISU").

AISU, a U.S. public/private hybrid charter school under the management of AIS, features an innovative and personalized learning approach for students from kindergarten through grade 12. Pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding, 51Talk, AIS and AISU will collaborate in areas including academic research, curriculum development, lesson product development, and teacher recruitment and training. Specifically, AISU will serve as an institutional base to support 51Talk's American Academy program. American Academy offers online English lessons delivered by North American teachers to children in China 5 to 12 years old. Through this partnership, American Academy students will gain online exposure to a typical American-style primary education experience through a co-developed curriculum based on U.S. Common Core State Standards, AISU online resources, and a shared study experience with the AISU primary school students.

"We are honored to cooperate with AIS and AISU to broaden our curriculum and enhance our American Academy product offering. AISU has distinguished itself with its innovative use of education technology and advanced teaching methodology and is a well-suited partner for us. We believe 51Talk and our American Academy program students will benefit greatly from this cooperation," said Ting Shu, Co-Founder, Director, and Senior Vice President of 51Talk.

"AISU is excited to work with 51Talk and to link their students to our school-based activities and lessons through the American Academy program," said AISU Superintendent Michael Farley. "We plan to work closely with 51Talk in their effort to provide the best online English learning program in China."

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students across China to take live one-on-one interactive English lessons with overseas foreign teachers, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified foreign teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students.

For more information, please visit http://ir.51talk.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "aims", "future", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "likely to" and similar statements. Among other things, 51Talk's business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as 51Talk's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. 51Talk may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about 51Talk's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: 51Talk's goals and strategies; 51Talk's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its brand and platform; 51Talk's ability to retain and increase its student enrollment; 51Talk's ability to offer new courses; 51Talk's ability to engage, train and retain new teachers; 51Talk's future business development, results of operations and financial condition; 51Talk's ability to maintain and improve infrastructure necessary to operate its education platform; competition in the online education industry in China; the expected growth of, and trends in, the markets for 51Talk's course offerings in China; relevant government policies and regulations relating to 51Talk's corporate structure, business and industry;  general economic and business condition in China, the Philippines and elsewhere and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in 51Talk's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and 51Talk does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Contacts:

China Online Education Group
Investor Relations
+86 (10) 5692-8909
ir@51talk.com

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Brandi Piacente
+86 (10) 6535-0148
+1-212-481-2050
51talk@tpg-ir.com

SOURCE China Online Education Group