The PIE: Do you have readership across the whole of China?

MQ: All over China, yes.

Everyone is buying international brands and that’s the boom, based on affordability. So believe it. It will keep booming

The PIE: What’s your background? Did you study in the US?

MQ: No, I was quite landlocked. I graduated from Peking University. I majored in English Literature, then I spent some years in the education industry and I worked as a strategy consultant for some time. Later I became Deputy General Manager of China Education Service Centre, which has 40 branches in China, and later I was Deputy Vice President of China Education Service Centre. After that I founded this company and Dixon, my colleague, was the first [07:35] investor, and then several months later, he decided to quit qunar.com and join this company as CEO.

The PIE: Do you see the education boom in China continuing for the next five years?

MQ: Of course.

The PIE: There were some reports over here that Chinese students were returning to China and their US education maybe wasn’t as valued as it was five years previously– is there any truth to that?

MQ: I understand the market in a different way. The international education market is not just about teenagers or young people; it’s about everybody. Think about this: if you are a white collar lady, about 30, and suddenly you feel a lot of pressure. You want to spend some time doing nothing, but you don’t feel comfortable about that. So you’re going to search through our website and go ‘Oh– this is a very good English learning opportunity, spending one month in London” and you register for some business English courses.

Another example, my partner has two kids. One is seven, one is four. They are very interested in bringing the two kids to, for example, the US, in Florida, let’s say – to spend six weeks doing language training while they spend their holidays there. Or, some state-owned companies in China which are very wealthy award their best talents to do a certificate somewhere in a top world university. So there are lots of education opportunities, it’s not limited to just registering at a university. Just like 10 years ago, we didn’t buy international brands. But now, everyone is buying international brands and that’s the boom, based on affordability. So believe it. It will keep booming.

The PIE: Any countries in particular? Is the US always the most popular?

The major interests of the Chinese population in terms of international education will be the US and the UK

MQ: The major interests of the Chinese population in terms of international education will be the US and the UK. Next, Australia, Canada. But I believe in the future there is going to be a large variety.

We are doing something that is very interesting called the 10 year Global Civilisation Education-Based Study Tour for families. You can gather several upper-middle class families together, you travel, this year, for example, to Spain, next year Greece, next year the UK, and we provide professors from the top local universities to teach your kids. And that means in 10 years, your kids have a complete picture of global civilisation: history, society, culture, and language.

It can be amazing. And lots of upper-middle class have this affordability. So be more imaginative. Jump out of the old box.