A teacher instructs children on recognizing grain crops at a kindergarten in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Oct. 15, 2020. A number of primary schools and kindergartens in Hefei have promoted education campaigns to ramp up awareness of respecting food labor and valuing food among students and children ahead of the upcoming 40th World Food Day. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

 Despite the disruption caused by COVID-19, two major education industry events - the 2020 "Echoing China" Tencent Annual Education Ceremony and the 2020 CCTV.com Annual Education Ceremony - have successfully brought together leading experts, renowned scholars and frontline teachers to discuss the various challenges and countermeasures in education and to recognize outstanding achievements in the industry.

Renaissance, the world's largest English assessment education technology company, not only won Tencent Education's "Chinese Education Industry Value List 2020 Influential Education Brand" award on December 2, but was also named "2020 Technological Innovation Education Brand" by CCTV.com on Tuesday. Renaissance is the first international education company to receive such honors.

The Renaissance's English practice and assessment solutions were chosen from more than 100 educational enterprises and institutions in a rigorous and independent selection process by education experts for both awards.

In order to better serve Chinese users, the Renaissance established its data center in Shanghai in 2019 to host its Accelerated Reader and Star Reading platforms, and in August also uploaded 5,000 books approved by the Chinese government to the server - allowing K-12 students to learn and practice English at home with myON - a first for an international EdTech company.

Chris Bauleke, CEO of the Renaissance, said: "continuing to listen to and understand the needs of the Chinese market, schools and institutions has enabled the Renaissance to establish a loyal and rapidly growing customer base."