The Qingdao Executive Leadership Networking Academy, led by the municipal committee of Qingdao, officially went into operation and initiated an online learning "cloud platform" on July 7, 2013. More than 40,000 cadres from Qingdao are to participate in learning online on the basis of distance education and network resources.

Supported by cloud computing, computing over a network, the Qingdao Executive Leadership Networking Academy (www. qdgbjy.gov.cn) set up an online learning platform linking up the process of teaching, learning, examination and supervision, according to new learning methods in the Internet era.

The online learning platform, designed and supervised by Qingdao Radio and TV University, has eight sections with more than 80 functions available. Each student can create his or her own account and learning profile. After half a year of testing and refining, it can meet the demands of learning online for 40,000 students, 5,000 of whom will be online simultaneously.

Based on a self-selection study and special trainings, the Executive Leadership Networking Academy Qingdao advances a new pattern of cadre education. The network academy contains nine sections including the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, economic construction and management science.

To guarantee a strong education, the municipal government of Qingdao carries out a three-level management system employing liaison officers. In addition, the online students are required to take a certain number of courses and credits that are earned only by passing the online exanimations.

During the trial run, there were more than 26,000 users registered on the online learning platform, with 1,200 users learning online each day on average. The Executive Leadership Networking Academy Qingdao, which solves several existing problems, is highly regarded among the online students.

Edited by Michael Thai and Chen Jinghong