Item 1.
Business.
History of our Organization
We were incorporated in North Carolina on December 2, 1996 under the name of ABC Realty Co. to engage in residential real estate transactions as a broker or agent. Following the September 2004 reverse acquisition described below, our corporate name was changed to China Education Alliance, Inc. At the time of the reverse acquisition, we were not engaged in any business activity and we were considered to be a blank-check shell.
On September 15, 2004, we entered into an agreement pursuant to which:
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the stockholders of Harbin Zhong He Li Da, a PRC corporation, transferred all of the stock of Harbin Zhong He Li Da to us and we issued to those stockholders a total of 18,333,333 shares of Common Stock, representing 95% of our outstanding Common Stock after giving effect to the transaction.
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Duane Bennett, who was then our chairman of the board and controlling shareholder, caused 3,666,667 shares of Common Stock that were controlled by him to be transferred to us for cancellation, for which Harbin Zhong He Li Da or its stockholders paid $400,000, of which $300,000 was paid in cash and the balance was paid by a promissory note, which has been paid.
We changed our corporate name to China Education Alliance, Inc. on November 17, 2004.
General
We are an education service company that provides on-line education and on-site training in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). We were organized to meet what our founders believe is an unmet need for educational resources throughout the PRC. Based on the Chinese Finance Ministry’s 2010 draft budget report, the appropriation for education spending in 2010 was 215.99 billion Yuan. According to Chinese tradition, spending on education resources is one of the family’s major expenditures. However, just as economic development is not even throughout the PRC, there is an uneven allocation of educational resources in the PRC. In general, only students who pass the numerous examinations which are given at various stages of the educational process, can obtain better educational opportunities at a higher level. We believe that the examination-oriented education has created a market for products from companies that address this need.
Our principal business is the distribution of educational resources through the internet. Our website, www.edu-chn.com, is a comprehensive education network platform which is based on network video technology and large data sources of elementary education resources. We have a database comprised of such resources as test papers that were used for secondary education and university level courses as well as video on demand. Our data base includes more than 350,000 exams and test papers and courseware for college, secondary and elementary schools. While some of these exams were given in previous years, we engage instructors to develop new exams and a methodology for taking the exams. We market this data base under the name “Famous Instructor Test Paper Store.” We also offer, through our website, video on demand, which includes tutoring of exam papers and exam techniques. We compliment the past exams and test papers by providing an interactive platform for students to understand the key points from the papers and exams. Although a number of the resources are available through our website without charge, we charge our subscribers for such services as the Famous Instructor Test Paper Store and the video on demand. Subscribers can purchase debit cards which can be used to download material from our website.
We also provide on-site teaching services in Harbin, which we market under the name “Classroom of Famed Instructors.” We have a 36,600 square foot training facility in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PRC, which has 17 classrooms and can accommodate 1,200 students. These classes, which complement our on-line education services, provide classroom and tutoring to our students. The courses cover primarily the compulsory education curriculum of junior, middle and high school. We charge tuition for these classes.
We have also introduced a program of on-line vocational training services. We collaborated with the China Vocation Education Society to set up a website, www.360ve.com , which is an internet platform for training agencies and schools to offer their services. We launched www.360ve.com in September 2007. We called this program our “Millions of College Students Employment Crossroad” program. We offer job search capability and career planning courses for university students. We developed this program in response to the high jobless rate for PRC college graduates. Many college graduates pursue vocational training after their college education in order to find employment. Our program is designed to establish a long-term training program for college students to build connections with corporations and participate in educational programs prescribed by hiring corporations. We anticipate that we will constantly revise our materials to meet changes in the market as well as the demands of university students and graduates who enroll in our courses in order to meet their changing needs.
On April 18, 2008, our wholly owned subsidiary, Harbin Zhong He Li Da Education Technology, Inc. (ZHLD) entered into an agreement and supplementary agreement with Harbin Daily Newspaper Group to invest in a joint venture company, Harbin New Discovery Media Co. ZHLD contributed RMB 3,000 000 (approximately $430,000) and Harbin Daily Newspaper Group contributed RMB 3,120,000 (approximately $445,000) towards the registered capital of Harbin New Discovery Media Co. In return for their respective contributions, ZHLD will own 49.02% equity interest and Harbin Daily Newspaper Group will own 50.98% equity interest in Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. This joint venture will create new educational material distribution channels in readable newspaper format in the future. Pursuant to the terms of the supplementary agreement, Harbin Daily Newspaper Group assigned all its rights in the “Scientific Discovery” newspaper exclusively to the joint venture company. The transaction closed on July 7, 2008 and as a result, Harbin New Discovery Media Co. Ltd. is now a 49.02% owned subsidiary of ZHLD and we are now in the publication and distribution of a scientific newspaper business.
On April 27, 2008, we entered into a Share Transfer Agreement with Mr. Yuli Guo (“Guo”) and World Exchanges, Inc. (“WEI”) to purchase from Guo seventy (70) issued and outstanding common shares in WEI, representing 70% of the entire issued share capital of WEI. In consideration for the said shares, we issued to, but held in trust for Guo, 400,000 shares of our Common Stock. Guo retained the remaining 30% of the issued share capital of WEI. As a result of the transaction, WEI became a 70% owned subsidiary of China Education Alliance.
On September 20, 2010, the Company’s board of directors determined to terminate the Share Transfer Agreement with Mr. Yuli Guo and WEI. Because Mr. Guo had not completed all the transfer and legal procedures within the time period required prescribed in the agreement due to delays in transferring legal title and the non-resolution of ongoing administrative and legal matters of WEI’s five entities in the PRC. The operations and financial position of WEI were never consolidated or presented in our consolidated financial statements. The 400,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock issued to Mr. Guo were returned to the Company for cancellation.
On January 4, 2009, our subsidiary, ZHLD entered into an agreement with Mr. Guang Li to jointly incorporate and invest in a joint venture company, Zhong He Li Da (Beijing) Management Consultant Co., Ltd. (“ZHLDBJ”). ZHLD contributed RMB 425,000 (approximately $62,107), and Mr. Guang Li contributed RMB 75,000 (approximately $10,960) towards the registered capital of ZHLDBJ, amounting to a total registered capital of RMB 500,000 (approximately $73,067). ZHLD will own a 85% equity interest in ZHLDBJ and Mr. Guang Li will own a 15% equity interest in ZHLDBJ. ZHLD has authorized Mr. Xiqun Yu to hold 20% of its equity interest of ZHLDBJ on its behalf.
ZHLDBJ was incorporated on January 4, 2009 with a business term of 20 years. The registered capital of ZHLDBJ has been paid by the parties concerned. Mr. Xiqun Yu, our CEO, is the legal representative and the managing director of ZHLDBJ. ZHLDBJ will be involved in the vocational training business, in particular, in running the “Million Managers Training Program”. The “Million Managers Training Program” is the PRC’s first management training program targeted to upgrade management skills.
In February 2010, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, ZHLD, incorporated a new company in the PRC, Beijing New Shifan Education & Technology ("New Shifan"). Further, New Shifan has acquired all the assets and operations of Beijing Shifan Culture Communication Co., Ltd. ("Beijing Shifan") for RMB 6 million (approximately $876,808). Focused on the advancement of science and mathematics education, Beijing Shifan publishes the "Senior High School Students Mathematic, Physics, and Chemistry" magazine, which has been endorsed by the PRC Ministry of Education. The magazine was founded in 1993. Beijing Shifan is also the sponsor and organizer of a nationwide contest for middle school and high school students. This national competition tests the students' academic abilities in mathematics, physics and chemistry. There are currently 23 provinces and cities and more than 100,000 students participating in the contest, which emphasizes students' abilities, technology awareness, and innovative thinking. The winners of the contest qualify for enrollment in some of the top universities in the PRC, thus it has very significant impact on the secondary education market in China.
In October 2010, the Company founded a "Hundred Celebrity Teachers Club" in China. The goal of the club is to "assemble famous teachers, train students, and promote basic education in China". The "Hundred Celebrity Teachers Club" (the “Club”) is the first dynamic educational platform aimed at promoting math, physics, and chemistry in middle and high schools in China. So far, 80 teachers from 15 provinces of China have joined the Club, making us one of the largest bases of well-known teachers in China. As members of the Club, these famous teachers will promote high teaching standards in all three major disciplines - math, physics and chemistry - and provide consultation services to select middle and high schools in China. The Club's activities include teacher training, lectures given by celebrity teachers, education evaluation, teaching cases analysis, subjects study, and international exchanges. It provides an excellent stage for teachers to explore resources, discuss hot education topics, and promote academic growth. The “Hundred Celebrity Teachers Club" is endorsed by China's Ministry of Education.
In December 2010, the Company announced that its board of directors authorized a stock repurchase program. The program authorized a buyback of the Company's Common Stock up to a value of $10 million and was valid through December 1, 2011. The program was initialized by having the Company funds utilized to open a brokerage account in the United States.
On March 4, 2011, the Company entered into a management agreement (the “Management Agreement”) with Nanchang Institute of Technology (“NIT”), a vocational training institution based in Nanchang, People’s Republic of China. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company will manage the daily operations of NIT for ten years for an annual management fee of RMB 10 million (approximately $1,461,347). The management fee is payable on a quarterly basis and in the event of late payment, a late fee is imposed. Additionally, a liquidated damage of RMB 50 million (approximately $7,306,736) will be paid by the party that defaults on the agreement.
In connection with the Management Agreement, the Company entered in to a loan agreement (the “Loan Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company will loan NIT RMB 50 million (approximately $7,306,736) to build training facilities and NIT will repay the RMB 50 million in ten years from the date NIT receives the principal. The loan has an annual interest rate of 20% and the interests will be waived by the Company if NIT makes all payments under the Management Agreement in a timely manner. In the event it prepays the principal and interests that are not due, NIT is subject to a prepayment penalty in the amount of 25% of the loan principal. The loan is secured by the assets of certain guarantors.
On March 14, 2011 the Company entered into a Share Transfer Agreement with the shareholder of Harbin Tianlang Culture and Education School (“Tianlang”), a tutoring school with 5,000 current students, based in Harbin, People’s Republic of China.
Pursuant to the Share Transfer Agreement, the Company agreed to purchase 60% of the equity interests of Tianlang for RMB 35 million (approximately $5.3 million). The shareholder and the Company also agreed to provide RMB 2 million (approximately $0.3 million) and RMB 3 million (approximately 0.5 million) as working capital for Tianlang, respectively. After the execution of the Share Transfer Agreement, Tianlong will establish a new board of directors with five directors, of which three directors shall be appointed by the Company and two directors shall be appointed by the shareholder.
On March 21, 2011, the Company entered into an additional agreement with NIT. Pursuant to the agreement, the Company and NIT will jointly establish Nanchang Institute of Technology College of Vocational Training and Certification (the “College”). NIT will provide facilities for free and the Company will provide teachers, curriculums and certificates of trainings and pay all the expenses incurred in the teaching process. In return, NIT and the Company will receive 20% and 80% of the total revenue of the College, respectively. The Company will be responsible for the College’s operation which will start on March 21, 2011.
Corporate Structure
Education Systems in the PRC
Since 1949 when the PRC was founded, the government in the PRC has considered education an important component of its economic and social development. Recently, with the emergence of its market economy, education has become a priority in the PRC.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the gross domestic product of the PRC in 2010 was calculated at $5.745 trillion, with an annual real rate of GDP growth at 10.4%. The average PRC family sets aside 10% of its savings for education according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. We believe that many parents are willing to invest in their children for better and higher education because it is critical for their future opportunities and advancement. The educational system in the PRC is under pressure to reform and develop. On March 14, 2004, the second session of the 10th National People’s Congress concluded that the PRC advocates “putting people first” as its development model. The PRC government sets education as a strategic priority in the China Agenda for Education.
The central government in the PRC, through the Ministry of Education, manages education in the PRC at a macro level, responsible for carrying out related laws, regulations, guidelines and policies of the central government; planning development of the education sector; integrating and coordinating educational initiatives and programs nationwide; maneuvering and guiding education reform countrywide. To a large degree, the provincial governments are left to implement basic education through development of teaching plans to supplement the required coursework from the central Ministry of Education and the funding of basic education in poorer areas. Provincial level governments have the main responsibilities for implementing basic education on a day to day basis.
Education is funded by a variety of sources: schools directly controlled by the central government are generally funded from the central financial pool; schools controlled by local governments are supported by local governments, the central government, and fund raising projects initiated by these schools themselves; schools sponsored by township and village governments and by public institutions are mainly financed by the sponsor institutions and subsidized by local governments; private schools are funded by sponsors (including collecting tuition from students and soliciting contributions).
In the PRC, primary and secondary education takes 12 years to complete. Primary education generally is six years, junior middle school is three years, and senior middle school is three years. Children generally begin primary school at the age of six. In 1986, the PRC passed the Compulsory Education Law, which dictates that nine years of compulsory education (grades 1 through 9) is to become mandatory and requires that provincial and local governments take the necessary steps to ensure that all students receive at least the required nine years of education. The goal of the Compulsory Education Law, as well as the subsequent guidelines, was to universalize compulsory education and to eliminate illiteracy among the PRC people. According to the Bulletin of Statistics on National Educational Development in 1999 issued by the Ministry of Education, the nine-year compulsory education has covered 80% of the PRC’s population since its inception. In 2002, the PRC began to aggressively incorporate English into its elementary school curriculum.
On March 3, 2004, the State Council approved and disseminated the 2003-2007 Action Plan for Invigorating Education in the 21st Century, which was formulated by the Ministry of Education. The plan recognizes the need to make the PRC competitive in the world economy and provides a blueprint to speed up educational reform and development in the PRC. The plan is based on two fundamental concepts to “Rejuvenating China through Science and Education” and “Reinvigorating China through Human Resource Development.” The objectives of the plan are to establish a well-to-do society and perfect the socialistic market economy in the PRC. The plan has goals to consolidate and universalize the nine-year compulsory education program and eradicate illiteracy, to continue educational reforms, to improve the quality of education and to provide a system designed to enable the public to have access to quality education. The plan emphasizes the use of information technology in education and training.
Since 2000, the PRC government has been implementing reform in educational policy to change the orientation of the education system from one based on memory learning to a more individualized creative approach.
On-line Education
Our core business is the exam-oriented education in junior, middle, and high school. We believe that our on-line education programs are in line with the government policy of using information technology to make educational resources available throughout the country. The reforms in education policy has created a demand for new curriculum, updated educational materials and educational resources. Our portal enables our customers to access the new curriculum created by various levels of government and leading academic experts, which are endorsed by the Ministry of Education. Our courses have the necessary certification or registration with the Ministry of Education.
Our website makes use of its internet network resources beyond the traditional teaching methods and face-to-face constraints by providing students with access to multi-media resources such as college, middle school and elementary school test papers, courseware designed to prepare students for taking the exams, and video on demand courseware. We market our website as a platform to offer services like “Famed Instructors Test Paper Store” by offering prepaid rechargeable learning debit cards that can be used to purchase our products. The learners can have materials downloaded for off-line education or study the material on-line.
We believe that through our website, we can help to change the uneven distribution of education resources since our material is designed for nationwide exams and, though the Internet, students can have access to our material nationwide. We sell our exam papers, test papers, and video on demand through our website www.edu-chn.com. We offer both exams that were previously given as well as copyrighted exams that were developed by teachers who we hire for that purpose. These examinations cover PRC primary, middle and high school exams which are used by students who are primarily in age range of six to eighteen.
We have developed some educational software and we own a database covering all levels of basic education from primary school through high school. Our plans for expansion of our business operations include the following:
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Build up the infrastructure to ensure fast access and to satisfy the volume that would develop with increasing demand;
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Develop a nation-wide advertising campaign to increase market awareness of our products;
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Open branch offices in key cities. Even though our website is accessible from anywhere in the PRC, course materials are not standardized throughout the PRC, and there are many differences in both the course materials and the resources among the different regions in the PRC. As a result, we believe that we can best serve the students in a region by using our branch offices to employ local teachers who understand the local educational system. In this manner, we can customize our course materials to meet the local educational requirements and develop face-to-face tutorial centers to further expand our revenue.
Training Center
We provide on-site teaching services under the “Big Classroom of the Famed Instructors,” our state-of-the-art training center in Harbin. At this center, we offer both classroom training and one-on-one tutoring. The training center has approximately 36,600 square feet, with 17 modern classrooms and a capacity for 1,200 students. The courses cover each phase of compulsory education, of which junior, middle and high school are the key parts. Our courses are designed to complement our students' daily school curriculum, and will vary depending on the age of the students as well as the progress of the class. Class subjects include Math, Physics, Chemistry, English, Chinese, etc. We charge students for each class taken. Thus, we determine our enrollment by the number of classes that were taken during a given period of time, and not by the number of individual students. Since the term of the classes vary, we do not schedule classes on a semester basis.
Vocational Training
We have introduced a program of on-line vocational training services. We have collaborated with the National Association of Vocation Education of China to set up a website, www.360ve.com, which is an internet platform for training agencies and schools to offer their services. We launched www.360ve.com in September 2007. We called this program our “Millions of College Students Employment Crossroad” program. We offer job search capability and career planning courses for university students. We developed this program in response to the high unemployment rate for PRC college graduates. Our program is designed to establish a long-term training program for college students to build connections with corporations and obtain educational programs prescribed by the recruiting corporations. We anticipate that we will constantly revise our materials to meet changes in the market as well as the demands of university students and graduates who enroll in our courses in order to meet their career needs.
Through our “Millions of College Students Employment Crossroad” program, we seek to address two problems - one is the need for university students to find jobs and the other is to satisfy the need of businesses to hire qualified candidates. We cooperate with businesses and other entities to enable us to communicate the requirements of potential employers, including the necessary skill sets needed, to the students who enroll in the program. In this manner, the students can learn the needs of different businesses while they are at school, and can develop educational programs in the their university to enable them to meet the educational requirements of their desired field of business. This will help students seek employment after college and improve their job seeking strategy.
The National Association of Vocation Education of China has a large number of institutional members, including provincial education bureaus and more than 1,000 vocational training schools across the PRC. We intend to expand our strategic cooperation with training agencies, especially in the aspects of joint enrollment, the exchange of resources and on-site training agencies facilities.
In this program we work with the National Association of Vocation Education of China, which certifies vocational certification, and coordinates our programs with the government agencies, including the education and labor ministries, to develop and evaluate programs for vocational education. We have been authorized to provide on-line vocational education and to administer the certification process for certain vocations. However, we are not yet offering theses services.
During December 2006, we acquired all of the fixed assets and franchise rights of Harbin Nangang Compass Computer Training School for approximately $1 million. The Nangang Compass Computer Training School provided classroom education resources to computer vocational school students. As a result of this acquisition, we became the exclusive partner of Beida Qingniao APTEC Software Engineering within Heilongjiang Province in the PRC for vocational training. The acquisition included materials and resources to provide on-site education classes and patented course materials. The Nangang Compass Computer Training School currently has two principal education programs focused on network engineering and ACCP software engineering with 9 on-site classrooms and 9 multimedia/computer classrooms at two centers.
Harbin New Discovery Media Co.
On April 18, 2008, ZHLD entered into an agreement and supplementary agreement with Harbin Daily Newspaper Group to invest in a joint venture company, Harbin New Discovery Media Co., ZHLD contributed RMB 3,000 000 (approximately $430,000) and Harbin Daily Newspaper Group contributed RMB 3,120,000 (approximately $445,000) towards the registered capital of Harbin New Discovery Media Co. In return for their respective contributions, ZHLD will own 49.02% equity interest and Harbin Daily Newspaper Group will own 50.98% equity interest in Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. Pursuant to the terms of the supplementary agreement, Harbin Daily Newspaper Group shall assign all its rights in the “Scientific Discovery” newspaper exclusively to the joint venture company, Harbin New Discovery Media Co. “Scientific Discovery” was established in October 2001 to popularize scientific information and knowledge with PRC citizens, and it has won strong brand recognition and a loyal readership in Heilongjiang province. In 2010, the “Scientific Discovery” circulation generated total revenues of $1.1 million during the year. Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. publishes this newspaper twice per week. The first publication targets primary and middle school students by providing pertinent and authoritative after-school tutorship materials, which are synchronized with students’ syllabi. Top-ranked educational experts and professors prepare the educational materials. The second publication targets the general population by providing scientific information and guidance in daily life.
“Million Managers Training Program”
We, along with The National Association of Vocational Education of China and Beijing Huayu Education Foundation are dedicated to building the PRC’s first management training program, Million Managers Training Program, with the goal of improving management skills and designing a complete solution for management, clients and suppliers. The topics are aimed at improving management skills, increasing corporate profitability and sustaining development. The program comprises 9 education modules:
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Ongoing enterprise and operation strategies;
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Marketing;
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General management;
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Enterprise management tactics;
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Human resources management;
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Enterprise culture;
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Financial management and capital management;
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Purchasing and production management; and
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Enterprise self-management and improvement.
The program takes 60 days with tuition of RMB 10,000 (approximately $1,437) to RMB 80,000 (approximately $11,491) based on different learning components. Some top experts from several industries are instructors in the program in Beijing.
Marketing
We employ sales persons who market our products to the Ministry of Education and the provincial education commissions. Although the government agencies do not purchase our products, we need to obtain their approval for the use of our programs in connection with the curriculums in schools under their jurisdiction. We also use these marketing calls to generate information to assist us in developing new educational products and opportunities. Our sales force is also actively involved with educators in developing curriculums based on our products.
We intend to use our web-based educational portal to assist us in marketing our educational products. This portal provides data and other materials free but charges users for downloads of our products.
We also market our Training Center and Vocational products by way of the following methods: (A) directly at conferences and events where we invite teachers, students and their families to learn about our education materials; (B) through various internet links and search engines; (C) by traditional media advertising, such as TV and newspaper advertisements; and (D) through fliers or coupons handed out to students in front of high schools and other major education institutions. We are also able to attract users by reputation and referrals from current students or users.
“Scientific Discovery,” a scientific information newspaper focusing on introducing scientific knowledge to elementary and secondary school students exclusively, is marketed by the joint venture company, New Discovery. This joint venture creates new educational material distribution channels in readable newspaper format and promotes our core businesses. Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. publishes this newspaper twice per week,. The first publication targets primary and middle school students by providing pertinent and authoritative after-school tutorship materials, which are synchronized with students’ syllabi. The educational materials are prepared by top-ranked educational experts and professors. The second publication targets the general population by providing scientific information and guidance in daily life.
Our Million Managers Training Program is supported by the China Industry-University-Research Institute Collaboration Association and the Asian Brand China Committee, which both benefit economic development and employment. China Education Alliance, along with The National Association of Vocational Education of China and Beijing Huayu Education Foundation is dedicated to building the first management training program in the PRC with the goal of improving management skills and designing a total solution for management, clients and suppliers. The topics are aimed at improving management skills, increasing corporate profitability and sustaining development. The program is advertised through newspapers, web portals, radio, and national TV programs in the PRC. Through the program, we aim to increase its revenue and gain recognition in the PRC.
We expense advertising costs for outdoor spots at the time they are aired and for all other advertising the first time the respective advertising takes place. These costs are included in selling, general and administrative expenses. The total advertising expenses incurred for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 were $1,308,290 and $1,093,535, respectively.
Major Customers
For the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, three customers each accounted for greater than 10% of sales during each year. A certain distribution agent in each of Heilongjing, Jinlin and LiaoNing Provinces accounted for 15.3%, 13.5%, and 14.2%, respectively of the total revenue for the year 2010, and 14.8%, 11.3% and 14.0%, respectively of total revenue for the year 2009. The loss of these customers would have a material adverse effect on the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole.
Competition
We compete with a number of PRC and international companies that sell educational materials in the PRC market. Many of our competitors are larger, more established companies, many of which have diverse businesses and are better capitalized. In some cases, these are new companies that are entering the educational market in the PRC and may offer products and services at lower costs to build up market share.
Government Regulations
The education industry in the PRC is heavily regulated at all levels - national, provincial and local. PRC practices and policies have limited contact with non-PRC entities in the education industry. In addition, our business is subject to numerous PRC rules and regulations, including restrictions on foreign ownership of Internet and education companies and regulation of Internet content. Many of the rules and regulations that we face are not explicitly communicated, but arise from the fact that education and the Internet are politically sensitive areas of the economy. We believe that the Ministry of Education and the provincial education commissions prefer to contract with PRC companies in the industry of education. As a result, all of our PRC subsidiaries are staffed with PRC nationals. All of our revenue is derived from our PRC subsidiaries, and our success is dependent on the skill and experience of the employees of our subsidiaries.
Ownership Restrictions on Foreign Internet Service Providers
The State Council promulgated the Administrative Rules on Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises in December 2001, as amended on September 10, 2008, or the FITE Rules. The FITE Rules set forth detailed requirements with respect to capitalization, investor qualifications and application procedures in connection with the establishment of a foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise. Pursuant to the FITE Rules, the ultimate capital contribution ratio of the foreign investor or investors in a foreign-funded telecommunications enterprise that provides value-added telecommunications services shall not exceed 50%. In addition, pursuant to the FITE Rules, permitted foreign investment ratio of value-added telecommunications services is no more than 50%.
In addition, for a foreign investor to acquire any equity interest in a value-added telecommunications business in China, it must satisfy a number of stringent performance and operational experience requirements, including demonstrating a track record and experience in operating a value-added telecommunications business overseas. Moreover, foreign investors that meet these requirements must obtain approvals from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information (“MII”) and the Ministry of Commerce or their authorized local counterparts, which retain considerable discretion in granting approvals.
On July 26, 2006, MII publicly released the Notice on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in Operating Value-added Telecommunications Business, dated July 13, 2006, or the MII Notice, which reiterates certain provisions under the FITE Rules. According to the MII Notice, if any foreign investor intends to invest in a Chinese telecommunications business, a foreign-invested telecommunications enterprise shall be established and such enterprise shall apply for the relevant telecommunications business licenses. The MII Notice prohibits domestic telecommunication services providers from leasing, transferring or selling telecommunications business operating licenses to any foreign investor in any form, or providing any resources, sites or facilities to any foreign investor for their illegal operation of a telecommunications business in China. According to the MII Notice, either the holder of a value-added telecommunication service license or its shareholders must directly own the domain names and trademarks used by such license holders in their provision of value-added telecommunication services. The MII Notice also requires each license holder to have the necessary facilities, including servers, for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered its license.
We completed our reverse merger and our corporate structure was established in September 2004, before the implementation of the FITE Rules and the MII Notice. Accordingly, we do not believe that the FITE Rules and the MII Notice apply to us. Further, even if they did, we do not believe that we are in the telecommunications business. We do not provide connectivity and internet services. We are primarily in the education business and only a portion of our education resources is disseminated to our paying customers as opposed to the general public via internet download. Finally, our vocational training services are provided in collaboration with and through a PRC company, China Vocation Education Society. We do not own or have any equity stake in China Vocation Education Society.
However, there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of PRC laws and regulations, including the laws and regulations governing the enforcement and performance of our contractual arrangements in the event of imposition of statutory liens, bankruptcy and criminal proceedings. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that the PRC regulatory authorities will not ultimately take a contrary view.
If the PRC government finds that the agreements that establish the structure of our operations in China do not comply with PRC government restrictions on foreign investment in our industry, we could be subject to severe penalties.
Under our current corporate structure, ZHLD is our sole Wholly Foreign Owned Entity (WFOE).
Regulation of Online and Distance Education
Pursuant to the Administrative Regulations on Educational Websites and Online and Distance Education Schools issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2000, or the Online Education Regulation, educational websites and online education schools may provide education services in relation to higher education, elementary education, pre-school education, teacher education, occupational education, adult education and other educational services. Under the Online Education Regulations, “Educational websites” refers to education websites providing education or education-related information services to website visitors by means of a database or an online education platform connected via the Internet or an educational television station through an Internet service provider, or ISP. Under the Online Education Regulations, “Online education schools” refer to organizations providing academic education services or training services with the issuance of various certificates.
Under the Online Education Regulations, setting up educational websites and online education schools is subject to approval from relevant education authorities, depending on the specific types of education provided. Under the Online Education Regulations, any educational website and online education school shall, upon receipt of approval, indicate on its website such approval information as well as the approval date and file number.
According to the Administrative License Law promulgated by the National People’s Congress on August 27, 2003 and effective as of July 1, 2004, only laws promulgated by the National People’s Congress and regulations and decisions promulgated by the State Council may establish administrative license requirements. On June 29, 2004, the State Council promulgated the Decision on Cutting Down Administrative Licenses for the Administrative Examination and Approval Items Really Necessary to be Retained, in which the administrative license for “online education schools” was retained, while the administrative license for “educational websites” was not retained.
We believe we are not required to obtain a license to operate “education websites” or “online education schools” from the MOE under the current PRC laws and regulation because we do not offer through our website education services or training programs that directly offer government accredited academic degrees or other government accreditation certifications. For the same reason, we do not believe that we need to obtain a license to operate our onsite tutoring services. Finally, there appears to be no restriction against foreign ownership and it is unclear whether foreign ownership is restricted for businesses providing such “education websites” or “online education schools”.
Business Scope of our PRC Operating Entities
All our PRC operating subsidiaries, including ZHLD are in the business of providing education services. Particularly, ZHLD is a holding company of all other subsidiaries and also provides online exam preparation services, Heilongjiang Zhonghe Education Training Center provides onsite vocational training and after school tutoring services, Beijing Hua Yu Hui Zhong Technology Development Co., Ltd provides onsite vocational training and online college graduate electronic database and pre-employment training , Zhonghelida (Beijing) Management Consultant Co. Ltd. provides onsite vocational training services, Harbin New Discovery Media Co. is in the educational newspaper publishing business and Beijing New Shifan Education & Technology Co., Ltd publishes a high school education magazine and organizes high school students contests.
Intellectual Property
The exams and other materials on our websites include material that is generally available, such as exams that were previously given, and exams and other material that were developed for us. We engage authors, who are teachers, university professors or experts in their fields, to develop materials for our websites. Under the terms of our contracts, we own the copyright on all materials produced for us by these authors. We pay each author a fixed fee and certain percentage of sales as royalty. We also enter into agreements to use and publish educational materials developed by others, for which we pay for the use right.
Employees
As of April 15, 2011, we have approximately 409 employees, consisting of 36 executives, 38 administrative and finance employees, 212 marketing and sales personnel, 40 research and development staff, 19 information technicians, 12 designers, 34 teaching and education administrative staff, and 18 other employees engaged in security, planning, human resources and other activities. We have no collective bargaining agreements, and we believe that we have good relations with our employees.
Education and Business Licenses
Below is a list of the education and business licenses and permits of the Company and our operating subsidiaries:
Harbin Zhong He Li Da Education Technology, Inc.
1. Certificate of Approval
2. Business License
3. Tax Registration Certificate
4. Organization Code Certificate
5. State Administration of Foreign Exchange Registration Card
Heilongjiang Zhonghe Education Training Center
1. Certificate of Approval
Beijing Hua Yu HuiZhong Technology Development Co., Ltd
1. Business License
2. Tax Registration Certificate
3. Organization Code Certificate
Harbin New Discovery Media Co.
1. Business License
2. Tax Registration Certificate
3. Organization Code Certificate
Zhong He Li Da (Beijing) Management Consultant Co. Ltd
1. Business License
2. Tax Registration Certificate
3. Organization Code Certificate
Beijing New Shifan Education & Technology Co.Ltd.
1. Business License
2. Tax Registration Certificate
3. Organization Code Certificate
Beijing Wei Shi Yi Tong Education Technology Co., Inc.
1. Certificate of Approval
2. Business License
3. Tax Registration Certificate
4. Organization Code Certificate
Item 1A.
Item 1A.
Risk Factors.
The reader should carefully consider each of the risks described below. If any of the following risks described below should occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected and the trading price of our Common Stock could decline significantly.
Risks Associated with our Business
Our business is dependent upon the PRC government’s educational policies and programs .
As a provider of educational services, we are dependent upon governmental educational policies. Almost all of our revenue to date has been generated from the sale of test papers and materials relating to courses at different educational levels. To the extent that the government adopts policies or curriculum changes that significantly alter the testing and course materials used in the PRC educational system, our products could become obsolete, which would affect our ability to generate revenue and operate profitably. We cannot assure you that the PRC government agencies would not adopt such changes.
We are subject to numerous PRC rules and regulations that restrict the scope of our business and could have a material adverse impact on us.
We may be subjected to numerous rules and regulations in the PRC, including, without limitation, restrictions on foreign ownership of Internet and education companies and regulation of Internet content. Many of the rules and regulations that we face are not explicitly communicated, but arise from the fact that education and the Internet are politically sensitive areas of the economy. We are not aware that any of our agreements or our current organizational structure is in violation of any governmental requirements or restrictions, explicit or implicit.
In particular, we do not believe that Administrative Rules on Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises and the Notice on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in Operating Value-added Telecommunications Business apply to us because our corporate structure was established before these rules came into effect. Further, we do not provide connectivity and internet services. We are primarily in the education business and only a portion of our education resources is disseminated to our paying customers as opposed to the general public via internet download. Finally, our vocational training services are provided in collaboration with and through a PRC company, China Vocation Education Society. We do not own or have any equity stake in China Vocation Education Society. With regard to our education services, we do not believe that the Administrative Regulations on Educational Websites and Online and Distance Education Schools and the Decision on Cutting Down Administrative Licenses for the Administrative Examination and Approval Items Really Necessary to be Retained apply to us, because we do not offer through our website education services or training programs that directly offer government accredited academic degrees or other government accreditation certifications. Even if these rules applied to us, there appears to be no restriction against foreign ownership and it is unclear whether foreign ownership is restricted for businesses providing such “education websites” or “online education schools”. For more discussion on these issues, please refer to “Foreign Ownership Restrictions on Internet Content Provision Businesses” and “Regulation of Online and Distance Education”.
However, there can be no assurance that we are in compliance now, or will be in the future. Moreover, operating in the PRC involves a high risk that restrictive rules and regulations could change. Indeed, even changes of personnel at certain ministries of the government could have a negative impact on us. With any change in administration, more scrutiny, emphasis or regulation may be levied on our type of business or organizational structure. The determination that our structure or agreements are in violation of governmental rules or regulations in the PRC would have a material adverse impact on us, our business and on our financial results.
Our business may be subject to seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in sales .
We may experience seasonal fluctuations in our revenue in some regions in the PRC, based on the academic year and the tendency of parents and students to make purchases relating to their education just prior to or at the beginning of the school year in the autumn. Any seasonality may cause significant pressure on us to monitor the development of materials accurately and to anticipate and satisfy these requirements.
Our business is subject to the health of the PRC economy .
The purchase of educational materials not provided by the state educational system is discretionary and dependent upon the ability and willingness of families or students to spend available funds on extra educational products to prepare for national examinations. A general economic downturn either in our market or a general economic downturn in the PRC could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, earnings, cash flow and working capital.
We depend on our senior officers to manage and develop our business .
Our success depends on the management skills of Mr. Xiqun Yu, our chief executive officer and president and his relationships with educators, administrators and other business contacts. We also depend on successfully recruiting and retaining highly skilled and experienced authors, teachers, managers, sales persons and other personnel who can function effectively in the PRC. In some cases, the market for these skilled employees is highly competitive. We may not be able to retain or recruit such personnel, which could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects and financial condition. Except for Ms. Alice Lee Rogers, our Chief Financial Officer, we do not have employment contracts with any other officers or employees. The loss of Mr. Yu would delay our ability to implement our business plan and would adversely affect our business.
We may not be successful in protecting our intellectual property and proprietary rights.
Our intellectual property consists of old test papers, which are contained in our library, and courseware which we developed by engaging authors and educators to develop these materials. Our proprietary software products are primarily protected by trade secret laws. Although we require our authors and software development employees to sign confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, we cannot assure you that we will be able to enforce those agreements or that our authors and software development employees will not be able to develop competitive products that do not infringe upon our proprietary rights. We do not know the extent that PRC courts will enforce our proprietary rights.
Others may bring defamation and infringement actions against us, which could be time-consuming, difficult and expensive to defend.
As a distributor of educational materials, we face potential liability for negligence, copyright, patent or trademark infringement and other claims based on the nature and content of the materials that we publish or distribute. Any claims could result in us incurring significant costs to investigate and defend regardless of the final outcome. We do not carry general liability insurance that would cover any potential or actual claims. The commencement of any legal action against us or any of our affiliates, whether or not we are successful in defending the action, could both require us to suspend or discontinue the distribution of some or a significant portion of our educational materials and require us to allocate resources to investigating or defending claims.
We depend upon the acquisition and maintenance of licenses to conduct our business in the PRC.
In order to conduct business in the PRC, we need licenses from the appropriate government authorities, including general business licenses and an education service provider license. The loss or failure to obtain or maintain these licenses in full force and effect will have a material adverse impact on our ability to conduct our business and on our financial condition.
Our growth may be inhibited by the inability of potential customers to fund purchases of our products and services.
Many schools in the PRC, especially those in rural areas, do not have sufficient funds to purchase textbooks, educational materials or computers to use our web-based educational portal. In addition, provincial and local governments may not have the funds to support the implementation of a curriculum using our educational products or may allocate funds to programs which are different from our products. Our failure to be able to sell our products and services to students in certain areas of the PRC may inhibit our growth and our ability to operate profitably.
Changes in the policies of the government in the PRC could significantly impact our ability to operate profitably.
The economy of the PRC is a planned economy subject to five-year and annual plans adopted by the government that set down national economic development goals. Government policies can have significant effect on the economic conditions of the PRC generally and the educational system in particular. Although the government in the PRC has confirmed that economic development will follow a model of market economy under socialism, a change in the direction of government planning may materially affect our business, prospects and financial condition.
Inflation in the PRC could negatively affect our profitability and growth.
While the economy in the PRC has experienced rapid growth, such growth has been uneven among various sectors of the economy and in different geographical areas of the country. Rapid economic growth can lead to growth in the money supply and rising inflation. If prices for our products rise at a rate that is insufficient to compensate for the rise in our costs, it may have an adverse effect on profitability. In order to control inflation in the past, the government has imposed controls in bank credits, limits on loans for fixed assets purchase, and restrictions on state bank lending. Such an austerity policy can lead to a slowing economic growth which could impair our ability to operate profitably.
If we make any acquisitions, they may disrupt or have a negative impact on our business.
If we make acquisitions, we could have difficulty integrating personnel and operations of the acquired companies with our own. In addition, the key personnel of the acquired business may not be willing to work for us. We cannot predict the affect expansion would have on our core business. Regardless of whether we are successful in making an acquisition, the negotiations could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees and increase our expenses. In addition to the risks described above, acquisitions are accompanied by a number of inherent risks, including, without limitation, the following:
·
the difficulty of integrating acquired products, services or operations;
·
the potential disruption of the ongoing businesses and distraction of our management and the management of acquired companies;
·
the difficulty of incorporating acquired rights or products into our existing business;
·
difficulties in disposing of the excess or idle facilities of an acquired company or business and expenses in maintaining such facilities;
·
difficulties in maintaining uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies;
·
the potential impairment of relationships with employees and customers as a result of any integration of new management personnel;
·
the potential inability or failure to achieve additional sales and enhance our customer base through cross-marketing of the products to new and existing customers;
·
the effect of any government regulations which relate to the business acquired;
·
potential unknown liabilities associated with acquired businesses or product lines, or the need to spend significant amounts to retool, reposition or modify the marketing and sales of acquired products or the defense of any litigation, whether or not successful, resulting from actions of the acquired company prior to our acquisition.
Our business could be severely impaired to the extent that we are unable to succeed in addressing any of these risks or other problems encountered in connection with these acquisitions, many of which cannot be presently identified, these risks and problems could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees, increase our expenses and adversely affect our results of operations.
Our operations and assets in the PRC are subject to significant political and economic uncertainties.
Government policies are subject to rapid change, and the government of the PRC may adopt policies which have the effect of hindering private economic activity and greater economic decentralization. There is no assurance that the government of the PRC will not significantly alter its policies from time to time without notice in a manner which reduces or eliminates any benefits from its present policies of economic reform. In addition, a substantial portion of productive assets in the PRC remains government-owned. For instance, all lands are state owned and leased to business entities or individuals through governmental granting of state-owned land use rights. The granting process is typically based on government policies at the time of granting, which could be lengthy and complex. The government of the PRC also exercises significant control over its economic growth through the allocation of resources, controlling payment of foreign currency and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Uncertainties may arise with changing of governmental policies and measures. In addition, changes in laws and regulations, or their interpretation, or the imposition of confiscatory taxation, restrictions on currency conversion, imports and sources of supply, devaluations of currency, the nationalization or other expropriation of private enterprises, as well as adverse changes in the political, economic or social conditions in the PRC, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Price controls may affect both our revenues and net income.
The laws of the PRC provide the government broad power to fix and adjust prices. We need to obtain government approval in setting our prices for classroom coursework and tutorials. Although the sale of educational materials over the Internet is not presently subject to price controls, we cannot give you any assurance that they will not be subject to controls in the future. To the extent that we are subject to price control, our revenue, gross profit, gross margin and net income will be affected since the revenue we derive from our services will be limited and we may face no limitation on our costs. As a result, we may not be able to pass on to our students any increases in costs we incur, or any increases in the costs of our faculty. Further, if price controls affect both our revenue and our costs, our ability to be profitable and the extent of our profitability will be effectively subject to determination by the applicable PRC regulatory authorities.
Our operations may not develop in the same way or at the same rate as might be expected if the PRC economy were similar to the market-oriented economies of most developed countries.
The economy of the PRC has historically been a nationalistic, “planned economy,” meaning it functions and produces according to governmental plans and pre-set targets or quotas. In certain aspects, the PRC’s economy has been making a transition to a more market-oriented economy, although the government imposes price controls on certain products and in certain industries. However, we cannot predict the future direction of these economic reforms or the effects these measures may have. The economy of the PRC also differs from the economies of most developed countries including with respect to the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. As a result of these differences, our business may not develop in the same way or at the same rate as might be expected if the economy of the PRC were similar to those of other developed countries.
Because most of our officers and directors reside outside of the United States, it may be difficult for you to enforce your rights against them or enforce United States court judgments against them in the PRC .
Most of our directors and our executive officers reside in the PRC and all of our assets are located in the PRC. It may therefore be difficult for United States investors to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties of our directors and officers under federal securities laws. Further, it is unclear if extradition treaties now in effect between the United States and the PRC would permit effective enforcement of criminal penalties of the federal securities laws.
We may have limited legal recourse under PRC law if disputes arise under contracts with third parties.
All of our agreements, which are made by our PRC subsidiaries, are governed by the laws of the PRC. The PRC legal system is a civil law system based on written statutes. Accordingly decided legal cases have little precedential value. The government of the PRC has enacted some laws and regulations dealing with matters such as corporate organization and governance, foreign investment, commerce, taxation and trade. However, these laws are relatively new and their experience in implementing, interpreting and enforcing these laws and regulations is limited. Therefore, our ability to enforce commercial claims or to resolve commercial disputes may be uncertain. The resolution of these matters may be subject to the exercise of considerable discretion by the parties charged with enforcement of the applicable laws. Any rights we may have to specific performance or to seek an injunction under PRC law may be limited, and without a means of recourse, we may be unable to prevent these situations from occurring. The occurrence of any such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Because we may not be able to obtain business insurance in the PRC, we may not be protected from risks that are customarily covered by insurance in the United States.
Business insurance is not readily available in the PRC. To the extent that we suffer a loss of a type which would normally be covered by insurance in the United States, such as product liability and general liability insurance, we would incur significant expenses in both defending any action and in paying any claims that result from a settlement or judgment.
Because our funds are held in banks which do not provide insurance, the failure of any bank in which we deposit our funds could affect our ability to continue in business.
Banks and other financial institutions in the PRC do not provide insurance for funds held on deposit. As a result, in the event of a bank failure, we may not have access to funds on deposit. Depending upon the amount of money we maintain in a bank that fails, our inability to have access to our cash could impair our operations, and, if we are not able to access funds to pay our suppliers, employees and other creditors, we may be unable to continue in business.
Failure to comply with the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.
We are subject to the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which generally prohibits United States companies from engaging in bribery or other prohibited payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Foreign companies, including some that may compete with us, are not subject to these prohibitions. Corruption, extortion, bribery, pay-offs, theft and other fraudulent practices occur from time-to-time in the PRC. We can make no assurance, however, that our employees or other agents will not engage in such conduct for which we might be held responsible. If our employees or other agents are found to have engaged in such practices, we could suffer severe penalties and other consequences that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Fluctuations in the exchange rate could have a material adverse effect upon our business .
We conduct our business in the Renminbi. The value of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. On July 21, 2005, the PRC government changed its decade old policy of pegging its currency to the U.S. currency. Under the current policy, the Renminbi is permitted to fluctuate within a narrow and managed band against a basket of certain foreign currencies. This change in policy has resulted in an approximately 26% appreciation of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar between July 21, 2005 and April 15, 2011. However, there remains significant international pressure on the PRC government to adopt an even more flexible currency policy, which could result in a further and more significant appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar. To the extent our future revenues are denominated in currencies other the United States dollars, we would be subject to increased risks relating to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations which could have a material adverse affect on our financial condition and operating results since our operating results are reported in United States dollars and significant changes in the exchange rate could materially impact our reported earnings.
Recent recalls of PRC products may affect the market for our stock.
Although we do not sell consumer products in the international market, the recent recalls of PRC products in the United States and elsewhere could affect the market for our stock by causing investors to invest in companies that are not based on the PRC.
Certain of our stockholders control a significant amount of our Common Stock.
Approximately 40% of our outstanding Common Stock is owned by our chief executive officer, Mr. Xiqun Yu. Depending on the circumstances, Mr. Yu presently may have the voting power from the Common Stock he owns to elect all of the directors and approve any transaction requiring stockholder approval.
Risks Associated with Investing in our Common Stock
The rights of the holders of Common Stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock.
Our board of directors has the right, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with voting, dividend, conversion, liquidation or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power and equity interest of the holders of Common Stock, which could be issued with the right to more than one vote per share, could be utilized as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change of control. The possible impact on takeover attempts could adversely affect the price of our Common Stock. Although we have no present intention to issue any additional shares of preferred stock or to create any new series of preferred stock, we may issue such shares in the future.
Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results and stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting.
Internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our operating results could be harmed. Under the current SEC regulations, we are required to include a management report on internal controls over financial reporting beginning with our Form 10-K annual report for the year ended December 31, 2008, and we will be required to include an auditor’s report on internal controls over financial reporting for the year ended December 31, 2011. Failure to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, regardless of whether we are required to maintain such controls, could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a material adverse effect on our stock price. Although we are not aware of anything that would impact our ability to maintain effective internal controls, we have not obtained an independent audit of our internal controls, and, as a result, we are not aware of any deficiencies which would result from such an audit. Further, at such time as we are required to comply with the internal controls requirements of Sarbanes Oxley, we may incur significant expenses in having our internal controls audited and in implementing any changes which are required.
Because of our cash requirements and potential government restrictions, we may be unable to pay dividends .
Payment of dividends to our shareholders would require payment of dividends by our PRC subsidiaries to us. This, in turn, would require a conversion of Renminbi into US dollars and repatriation of funds to the United States. Although our subsidiaries’ classification as wholly-owned foreign enterprises under PRC law permits them to declare dividends and repatriate their funds to us in the United States, any change in this status or the regulations permitting such repatriation could prevent them from doing so. Any inability to repatriate funds to us would in turn prevent payments of dividends to our shareholders.
Our stock price may be affected by our failure to meet projections and estimates of earnings developed either by us or by independent securities analysts.
Although we do not make projections relating to our future operating results, our operating results may fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors. In this event, the market price of our Common Stock would likely be materially adversely affected.
The registration and potential sale, either pursuant to a prospectus or pursuant to Rule 144, by certain of our selling stockholders of a significant number of shares could encourage short sales by third parties.
There may be significant downward pressure on our stock price caused by the sale or potential sale of a significant number of shares by certain of our selling stockholders pursuant to a prospectus or pursuant to Rule 144, which could allow short sellers of our stock an opportunity to take advantage of any decrease in the value of our stock. The presence of short sellers in our Common Stock may further depress the price of our Common Stock.
If the selling stockholders sell a significant number of shares of Common Stock, the market price of our Common Stock may decline. Furthermore, the sale or potential sale of the offered shares pursuant to a prospectus and the depressive effect of such sales or potential sales could make it difficult for us to raise funds from other sources.
Item 1B.
Item 1B.
Unresolved Staff Comments.
Not applicable.
Item 2.
Item 2.
Properties.
Our Beijing office is located in China Overseas Plaza, at the heart of Beijing's Central Business District, north to Chang'an Street and west to the third tower of the World Trade Center. The modern facility, a perfect example of the most modern international standards for a commercial building, provides a perfect environment for connecting the world’s business opportunities. The total floor area is 1,477sqm. The CBD is the barometer of a city's commercial development. Beijing CBD is synonymous with the commercial heart of the capital with many headquarters of Fortune 500 companies. It is endowed with incomparable business advantages and resources which attract numerous world-renowned companies. China Overseas Plaza consists of two A-class office buildings and two auxiliary commercial buildings. We began using this building in December 2010. The office's lease term is 38 months from December 10, 2010 to February 9, 2014. The monthly rent is RMB 243,708 (approximately $36,000).
All land in the PRC is owned by the government and cannot be sold to any individual or entity. Instead, the government grants landholders a "land use right" after a purchase price for such "land use right" is paid to the government. The "land use right" allows the holder the right to use the land for a specified long-term period of time and enjoys all the incidents of ownership of the land. The following are the details regarding our land use rights with regard to the land that we use in our business.
Our main office is located at 58 Heng Shan Road, Kun Lun Shopping Mall Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PRC150090, which has a total area of 4,177 square feet. This space is adequate for our present and our planned future operations. No other businesses operate from this office. We have no current plans to occupy other or additional office space.
We also have a 3,700 square meter (36,600 square foot) building in Harbin that we use for our educational training center and our vocational training center.
Harbin New Discovery Media Co. is located at 399 You Yi Road, Dao Li District, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PRC, which has a total area of 120 square meters. The annual rent is RMB140,000 (approximately $20,108).
Beijing Hua Yu Hui Zhong Technology Development Co. Ltd. is located at No.69, AnLeLin Road Jia, Chongwen District, Beijing, PRC, which has a total area of 327 square meters with annual rental of RMB 800,000 (approximately $117,190).
Zhong He Li Da (Beijing) Management Consultant Co. Ltd. is located at 17-A6-1, 4 th Floor, Daofeng Technology Business Zone, Qiaonan Technology Zone, Chongwen District, Beijing, PRC, which has a total area of 356 square meters with annual rental of RMB 480,000 (approximately $70,314).
Beijing New Shifan Education & Technology Co. Ltd. is located at Beijing Normal University, which has a total area of 100 square meters with annual rental of RMB 100,000 (approximately $14,500).
Item 3.
Item 3.
Legal Proceedings.
On January 6, 2011, the Company was served notice of a stockholder class action lawsuit filed on December 28, 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Company, Xiqun Yu, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Susan Liu, the Company’s ex-Chief Financial Officer and Zibing Pan, the Company’s ex-Chief Financial Officer.
The complaint in the lawsuit, Walter C. Clemens, Jr. v. China Education Alliance, Inc., Xiqun Yu, Susan liu and Zibing Pan, CV10-09987JFW(AGRX) alleges, among other claims, that the Company made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. The complaint seeks, among other relief, compensatory damages in favor of plaintiff and the other class members against all defendants, jointly and severally, for all damages sustained as a result of defendants’ wrongdoing, in an amount to be proven at trial including interest thereon, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, as well as reasonable attorneys’ fees, expert fees and other costs, rescissionary damages and such other equitable, injunctive or other relief as the court may deem just and proper. Mr. Clemens purports to sue on his own behalf and on behalf of a class consisting of the Company’s stockholders (other than the defendants and their affiliates). The Company believes that the complaint has no merit and intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit.
Item 4.
Item 4.
(Removed and Reserved).
PART II
Item 5.
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market for Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters
Our common stock is traded on the NYSE since January 27, 2010 under the symbol CEU. From July 20, 2009 to January 26, 2010, our common stock was traded on the NYSE Amex under the symbol CEU. Prior to July 20, 2009, our common stock was traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the trading symbol CEUA.OB. The table below presents the high and low bid for our common stock for each quarter from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010. These prices reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail markup, markdown, or commission, and may not represent actual transactions.
As of April 15, 2011, we had 31,727,249 shares of common stock outstanding and held of record by 197 stockholders. Within the holders of record of our common stock are depositories such as Cede & Co. that hold shares of stock for brokerage firms, which, in turn, hold shares of stock for beneficial owners. On April 13, 2011, the closing price of our common stock on NYSE was $1.27 per share.
We have not declared or paid any dividends on our common stock and presently do not expect to declare or pay any such dividends in the foreseeable future.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans.
On June 18 2009, we adopted the China Education Alliance, Inc. 2009 Incentive Stock Plan (the “Plan”). We registered 1,000,000 shares of our common stock under the Plan on a Form S-8, effective June 18, 2009. On the same date, we issued 16,334 shares of our common stock to our employees and consultants, options to purchase 300,000 shares of common stock to our Chief Executive Officer, Xiqun Yu, at an exercise price of $3.19 per share, and options to purchase 116,000 shares of common stock to other employees and consultants at an exercise price of $2.90 per share (of which an option to purchase 30,000 shares have been retired). On September 24, 2009, we issued an option to purchase 30,000 shares to our ex-Chief Financial Officer, Zibing Pan. On October 29, 2009 we issued 137,005 shares of our common stock to our employees and consultants.
On January 18, 2011, we issued 465,338 shares of our common stock to our employees and consultants and an option to purchase 30,000 shares to our ex-Chief Financial Officer, Zibing Pan. On March 1, 2011 Ms. Rogers was granted an option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock of the Company on March 1, 2012 and March 1, 2013, and an option to purchase 40,000 shares of common stock of the Company on March 1, 2014. As of April 15, 2011, 72,328 shares are still available under the Plan.
Registrar and Stock Transfer Agent
Our stock transfer agent is StockTrans, Inc., 44 West Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA 19003.
Dividends
We have not declared or paid any dividends on our common stock and presently do not expect to declare or pay any such dividends in the foreseeable future. We have not yet formulated a future dividend policy in the event restrictions on our ability to pay dividends are created. Payment of dividends to our stockholders would require payment of dividends by our PRC subsidiaries to us. This, in turn, would require a conversion of Renminbi into US dollars and repatriation of funds to the United States. Under current PRC law, the conversion of Renminbi into foreign currency generally requires government consent. Government authorities may impose restrictions that could have a negative impact in the future on the conversion process and upon our ability to meet our cash needs, and to pay dividends to our stockholders. Although, our subsidiaries’ classification as wholly-owned foreign enterprises under PRC law permits our subsidiaries to declare dividends and repatriate their funds to us in the United States, any change in this status or the regulations permitting such repatriation could prevent them from doing so. Any inability to repatriate funds to us would in turn prevent payments of dividends to our stockholders.
Repurchase of Equity Securities by China Education Alliance and Affiliated Purchasers
On December 8, 2010, the Company announced that its board of directors had authorized a stock repurchase program. The program authorizes a buyback of the Company's common stock up to a value of $10 million and is valid through December 1, 2011. The program will be initialized by having the Company funds utilized to open a brokerage account in the United States.
The following sets forth in tabular format the information relating to the purchase made by or on behalf of the Company or any “affiliated purchaser” as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, of our shares of common stock.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
On May 25, 2009, we entered into a Joint Marketing Agreement with our investor relations firm, RedChip Companies, Inc. (“RedChip”) for the provision of certain investor relations services. In partial consideration of such services, we had agreed to pay RedChip in restricted shares of the Company’s common stock upon the Company achieving monthly milestones. Because we had achieved these milestones, the board of directors of the Company issued to RedChip a total of 53,000 restricted shares of common stock in accordance with the provisions of the Joint Marketing Agreement dated October 26, 2009.
Item 6.
Item 6.
Selected Financial Data.
Not applicable.
Item 7.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion of the results of our operations and financial condition should be read in conjunction with our unaudited consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto, which appear elsewhere in this report.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the following discussion, as well as other information in this report, contain “forward-looking statements,” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any other statements relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and are likely to, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including those discussed from time to time in this report, as well as and any risks described in the “risk factors” section of our Registration Statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Form S-1 (file no. 333-146023) and any other filings we make with the SEC. In addition, such statements could be affected by risks and uncertainties related to the ability to conduct business in the People’s Republic of China, demand, including demand for our products resulting from change in the educational curriculum or in educational policies, our ability to raise any financing which we may require for our operations, competition, government regulations and requirements, pricing and development difficulties, our ability to make acquisitions and successfully integrate those acquisitions with our business, as well as general industry and market conditions and growth rates, and general economic conditions. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date and we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report.
Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our unaudited consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses. On an on-going basis, we evaluate these estimates, including those related to useful lives of real estate assets, cost reimbursement income, bad debts, impairment, net lease intangibles, contingencies and litigation. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from those estimates.
Overview
Our principal business is the distribution of educational resources through the Internet. Our website, www.edu-chn.com, is a comprehensive education network platform which is based on network video technology and large data sources of education resources. We have a database comprising such resources as test papers for secondary education courses as well as video on demand. Our database includes more than 350,000 exams, test papers and courseware for secondary and elementary schools.
We also provide on-site teaching services in Heilongjiang Province, where we have a 36,600 square foot training facility with 17 classrooms that can accommodate 1,200 students. These classes complement our on-line education services. The courses cover primarily the compulsory education curriculum of junior, middle and high school. We charge tuition fees for these classes.
We generate revenue through our website by selling prepaid debit cards to our subscribers. These debit cards permit the subscriber to download materials from our website over a specified period, usually one year. We recognize revenue from the debit cards when the students use the debit cards to purchase our products. To the extent that the debit cards expire unused, we recognize the remaining balance of the debit card at that time. We also recognize revenue from our other online education business including the sale of advertising on our website. We recognize revenue from our training center’s classes ratably over the term of the course, and we recognize revenue from face-to-face tutorials with students who attend our training center and face-to-face information technology training courses.
The laws of the People’s Republic of China provide the government broad power to fix and adjust prices. We need to obtain government approval in setting our prices for classroom coursework and tutorials, which affects our revenue in our training center business. Although the sale of educational material over the Internet is not presently subject to price controls, we cannot give you any assurance that they will not be subject to controls in the future. To the extent that we are subject to price control, our revenue, gross profit, gross margin and net income will be affected since the revenue we derive from our services will be limited and we may face no limitation on our costs. Further, if price controls affect both our revenue and our costs, our ability to be profitable and the extent of our profitability will be effectively subject to determination by the applicable PRC regulatory authorities.
Because students who purchase our on-line programs purchase debit cards for the programs that they use and students who enroll in our training classes pay their tuition before starting classes, we do not have significant accounts receivable. As of December 31, 2010, we had $0 in accounts receivable because we collect all payment upfront.
Our prepaid expenses at $2,834,976 account for 3.8% of current assets as of December 31, 2010. Prepaid expenses are primarily comprised of advance payments made for services to teachers, online materials and video, prepaid advertising and prepaid rent. As of December 31, 2010, prepayments to teachers and online materials totaled $401,962, prepayment of rent expense totaled $253,073, prepayments for advertising totaled $712,700, prepaid services and professional fees totaled $78,543, and other prepaid expenses were $1,388,699. We amortize the prepayments to teachers over three months, which is the estimated life of the testing materials. The prepaid rent related to our Beijing office and dormitory rental for our training center and the prepayment to teachers decreases as the materials are delivered and the prepaid rent decreases ratably during the terms of the leases.
As a result of both the manner in which we recognize revenue and the manner that we expense the cost of our materials, there is a difference between our cash flow and our revenue and cost of revenue.
In our on-line education business segment, the principal component of cost of sales is the cost of obtaining new material to offer students as we increase the available material as well as depreciation related to computer equipment and software and direct labor cost. Our on-line education business generates a gross margin of 83% for the year ended December 31, 2010. The gross margin is affected by the payments we have to make to the teachers for the materials. In our training center business, the principal components of cost of sales are costs of the faculty and the amortization of intangible assets. The tuition that we charge our students at our training center is subject to government approval. As a result, we may not be able to pass on to our students any increases in costs we incur, including increased costs of running our faculty. Our gross margin in the training center is also affected by the size of our classes.
Our on-line products and our training services are dependent upon the government's education policies. Any significant changes in curriculum or testing methods could render all or a significant portion of our library of test papers and our training center obsolete and we may have to devote substantial resources in adapting to the changes.
We have recently added a platform for training agencies and schools to offer their services, and we offer job search guidance and career planning courses to college graduates through this platform. This business has become part of our online education business, since it is currently largely an Internet-based activity.
Because the purchase of both our on-line and our training center is made from discretionary funds, our business is dependent upon both the economy of the People’s Republic of China and the perception of students that they will benefit from improving their ability to perform well on standardized entrance exams for middle school, high school and university.
In December 2006, we acquired, for approximately $1.0 million, all of the fixed assets and franchise rights of Harbin Nangang Compass Computer Training School (“Compass Training School”), which was engaged in the business of providing on-line education resources to computer vocational training school students. As a result of this acquisition, we became the exclusive partner of Beida Qingniao APTEC Software Engineering within Heilongjiang Province in the PRC for vocational training. The acquisition included materials and resources to provide on-site education classes and patented course materials. Compass Training School currently has two principal education programs focused on network engineering and ACCP software engineering with 9 on-site classrooms and 9 multimedia/computer classrooms at two centers.
We own 70% of Beijing Hua Yu Hui Zhong Technology Development Co., Ltd, which was formed on September 30, 2006. At the time of its organization, we transferred a 30% interest in this subsidiary to the National Vocational Education Association of China, a non-profit, quasi-government entity, for no consideration in order to enable us to work with the Association’s network to expand our business.
We are in the process of introducing new services aimed at students who want to attend vocational school. These students include high school students who do not continue their education at universities and university graduates who are not able to find employment. The core business for our vocation education will be in three main areas: vocation training, vocational certification, and career development for college graduates. We have collaborated with the National Vocational Education Association of China in setting up www.360ve.com, which provides information regarding vocation training schools and vocation training both on-line and on-site.
On April 18, 2008, ZHLD entered into an agreement and supplementary agreement with Harbin Daily Newspaper Group (“Newspaper Group”) to invest in a joint venture company, Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. Media Co., Ltd. ZHLD contributed RMB 3,000,000 (approximately $430,000) and Newspaper Group contributed RMB 3,120,000 (approximately $445,000) towards the registered capital of Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. In return for their respective contributions, ZHLD will own a 49.02% equity interest and Newspaper Group will own a 50.98% equity interest, respectively, in Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. The parties are prohibited, for the duration of the joint venture from retiring or transferring their equity interests. This joint venture will create new educational material distribution channels in readable newspaper format in the future. The value of this investment as of December 31, 2010 is $346,031.
Pursuant to the terms of the supplementary agreement, Newspaper Group assigned all their rights in the “Scientific Discovery”, a scientific information newspaper with a focus on education to introduce scientific knowledge to elementary and secondary students exclusively, to the joint venture company, Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. In the event that the rights to “Scientific Discovery” expire because of reasons other than a change in government policies and an inability to defend against or resist such changes, Newspaper Group is liable to ZHLD for twice the latter’s registered contribution in the joint venture in liquidated damages. The transaction closed on July 7, 2008 and as a result, Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. is now a 49.02% owned equity investment of ZHLD, referred to as a long-term investment in the accompanying balance sheet.
On April 27, 2008, the Company entered into a Share Transfer Agreement with Mr. Yuli Guo (the “Vendor”) and World Exchanges, Inc. (“WEI”) to purchase from Vendor seventy (70) issued and outstanding ordinary shares in WEI, representing 70% of the entire issued share capital of WEI (the “WEI Acquisition”). WEI is incorporated under the laws of Canada and was organized on December 19, 1991. WEI has been registered at 30 Denton Avenue, Apartment 2216, Toronto, Canada. In consideration for the said shares, the Company issued, but held in escrow for the Vendor’s benefit, 400,000 shares of its common stock, with a market value at the date of issuance of $2.33 per share or $932,000. The Vendor retained the remaining 30% of the issued share capital of WEI. The Vendor had agreed not to transfer the shares of the Company to a third party for fifteen (15) years and to grant the Company a right of first refusal in the event the Vendor desires to sell such shares.
The plan was for WEI to provide English training programs, English test preparation courses and overseas study and consulting services in the PRC. Included as part of the WEI Acquisition, were the acquisitions of five English language schools in various parts of the PRC. The Vendor owned various percentages of the interests of the five schools, and according to the transfer agreement, the Vendor was required to transfer all his interests in the schools to WEI, and complete the necessary administrative and legal procedures required by the PRC. However, the Vendor was not able to complete all the transfer and legal procedures within the time period required in the agreement. On September 20, 2010, the Company’s board of directors determined to terminate the Share Transfer Agreement, dated April 27, 2008, with the Vendor and WEI.
As of December 31, 2010, the Company’s management decided not to reserve their advance on the acquisition of WEI, totaling 400,000 shares of the Company’s common stock valued at $932,000, as these shares were cancelled by the Company as of December 31, 2010.
The Vendor has not completed the transfer of his interests in all five English schools or performed the related PRC legal procedures within the time period required in the agreement to WEI. As such, we do not have effective control over WEI’s operations as of December 31, 2010.
On January 4, 2009, China Education Alliance’s subsidiary, ZHLD entered into an agreement with Mr. Guang Li to jointly incorporate and invest in a joint venture company, Zhong He Li Da (Beijing) Management Consultant Co., Ltd. (“ZHLDBJ”). ZHLD contributed RMB 425,000 (approximately $62,107), and Mr. Guang Li contributed RMB 75,000 (approximately $10,960) towards the registered capital of ZHLDBJ, amounting to a total registered capital of 500,000 RMB (approximately $73,067). In return for their respective contributions, ZHLD owns an 85% equity interest, and Mr. Guang Li owns a 15% equity interest in ZHLDBJ. ZHLD has authorized Mr. Xiqun Yu, the Company CEO, to hold 20% of its equity interest of ZHLDBJ on its behalf. ZHLDBJ will be involved in the vocational training business which includes IT engineering and accounting training, in particular, in running the “Million Managers Training Program”, with the goal of improving participants’ management skills and designing a complete solution for management, clients and suppliers.
On February 3, 2010, China Education Alliance, Inc. announced that through its wholly owned subsidiary, ZHLD, it has incorporated a new company in the PRC, Beijing New Shifan Education & Technology ("New Shifan"), with a registered capital of RMB 1.95 million (approximately $284,962). New Shifan was created to continue the operations of Beijing Shifan Culture Communication Co., Ltd. ("Beijing Shifan"). The Company paid the original owner of Beijing Shifan RMB 6 million (approximately $878,000) to acquire their expertise, in (i) science and math education at the secondary education level, (ii) the rights to continue publishing the magazine “Senior High School Students Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry” and (iii) the rights to a nationwide contest for middle school and high school students. The Company considers the RMB 6 million payment to be an intangible asset whose evaluation and life has not been finalized as of December 31, 2010, accordingly no amortization has been recorded. The old owner will dissolve Beijing Shifan. The focus of New Shifan is on the advancement of science and mathematics education, and the publishing of the "Senior High School Students Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry" magazine, which has been endorsed by the PRC Ministry of Education. Beijing Shifan was the sponsor and organizer of a nationwide contest for middle school and high school students, which will be continued by New Shifan. This national competition tests the students' academic abilities in mathematics, physics and chemistry. There are over 100,000 students participating in the contest from 23 provinces in the PRC. Winners of the contest qualify for enrollment in some of the top universities in the People's Republic of China. As a result, New Shifan has a significant impact on the secondary education market in China. Mrs. Yin Xiaojie, the former sole shareholder, owner and CEO of Beijing Shifan, will take on a management position at New Shifan and will own 35% of the equity interest in New Shifan, while ZHLD owns the remaining 65% interest. There has been minimal operating activity from New Shifan for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010.
Significant Accounting Estimates and Policies
The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates including the allowance for doubtful accounts, the salability and recoverability of our products, income taxes and contingencies. We base our estimates on historical experience and on other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form our basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
Property and equipment are evaluated for impairment whenever indicators of impairment exist. Accounting standards require that if an impairment indicator is present, we must assess whether the carrying amount of the asset is unrecoverable by estimating the sum of the future cash flows expected to result from the asset, undiscounted and without interest charges. If the recoverable amount is less than the carrying amount, an impairment charge must be recognized, based on the fair value of the asset.
Intangible assets and capitalized software, which we acquired from third parties, are amortized over the lives of the rights agreements, which are two to five years. We evaluate the carrying value of the franchise rights during the fourth quarter of each year and between annual evaluations if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of the intangible asset below its carrying amount. There were no impairments recorded during the year ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.
As part of the process of preparing our consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our income taxes. This process involves estimating our current tax exposure together with assessing temporary differences resulting from differing treatment of items for tax and accounting purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities. Our deferred tax assets is from US corporate parent and has been fully reserved. Our US parent provides corporate and administrative functions for the entire consolidated Company. We must then assess the likelihood that our deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income, and, to the extent we believe that recovery is not likely, we must establish a valuation allowance. To the extent that we establish a valuation allowance or increase this allowance in a period, we must include a tax provision or reduce our tax benefit in the statements of operations. We use our judgment to determine our provision or benefit for income taxes, deferred tax assets and liabilities and any valuation allowance recorded against our net deferred tax assets. We believe, based on a number of factors including historical operating losses, that we will not realize the future benefits of a significant portion of our net deferred tax assets and we have accordingly provided a full valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets. However, various factors may cause those assumptions to change in the near term.
We cannot predict what future laws and regulations might be passed that could have a material effect on our result of operations. We assess the impact of significant changes in laws and regulations on a regular basis and update the assumptions and estimates used to prepare our financial statement when we deem it necessary.
We have determined the significant principles by consulting accounting policies that involve the most complex and subjective decisions or assessments. Our most significant accounting policies are those related to revenue recognition and deferred revenue.
Revenue is recognized when the following criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; (2) the service has been rendered; (3) the selling price is fixed or determinable; and (4) collection of the resulting receivable is reasonably assured. We believe that these criteria are satisfied upon customers’ download of prepaid study materials. Prepaid debit cards allow our subscribers to purchase a predetermined monetary amount of download materials posted on our website. Prepaid service contracts are amortized to income on a straight-line basis over the length of the service contract. These service contracts allow the user to obtain materials for a designated period of time. At the time that the prepaid debit card is purchased, the receipt of cash is recorded as deferred revenue. Revenue is recognized in the month when services are actually rendered. Unused value relating to debit cards is recognized as revenue when the prepaid debit card has expired. Revenue from advertising on our website is recognized when the advertisement is run. Since advertising customers are billed monthly, there is no unearned advertising revenue.
The Company engages an advertisement agency to manage its on-line advertisement revenue. Per the contract with this agency, upon posting of an on-line advertisement on the Company’s website, the Company is entitled to share with the agency 50% of the amount charged to the on-line advertiser. The Company recognizes revenue upon posting of an advertisement on their web-site. The agency is responsible for collection of all ad revenue from advertisers. The agency is required to make their remittance for on-line advertising six months after on-line ads are posted on their website.
Prepaid expenses are primarily comprised of advance payments made for services to teachers for on-line materials and video, outdoor advertising and prepaid rent.
Deferred revenue includes subscriber prepayments and education fee prepayments. Subscriber prepayments represents deferred revenue for the purchase of debit cards used to pay for the on-line downloading of education materials, including testing booklets, supplemental materials and teaching video clips. We value the sales based on the actual occurrence of customer download. Therefore, the spare time between the purchase of debit cards and actual download is recorded under advances on accounts as deferred or unearned revenue. Once the download takes place, the amount is then transferred from advances on accounts to sales. Education fee prepayments represent tuition payments and payments for service contracts which are amortized over their respective terms.
We have granted a stock option ”D” to our officers, directors or key employees to purchase a total of 456,000 shares of common stock of the company, such options to vest yearly in equal installments. To the extent that we do adopt such plans in the future, such grants will be valued at the granting date and expensed over the applicable vesting period as required by Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 (revised 2004), “Share-Based Payments.”
New Accounting Pronouncements
Business Combinations: In December 2010, the FASB issued amended guidance related to Business Combinations. The amendments affect any public entity that enters into business combinations that are material on an individual or aggregate basis. The amendments specify that if a public entity presents comparative financial statements, the entity should disclose revenue and earnings of the combined entity as though the business combination(s) that occurred during the current year had occurred as of the beginning of the comparable prior annual reporting period only. The amendments also expand the supplemental pro forma disclosures to include a description of the nature and amount of material, nonrecurring pro forma adjustments directly attributable to the business combination included in the reported pro forma revenue and earnings. The amendments are effective prospectively for business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2010. Early adoption is permitted. The Company will assess the impact of these amendments on its consolidated financial statements if and when an acquisition occurs.
Intangibles-Goodwill and Other: In December 2010, the FASB issued amended guidance related to Intangibles-Goodwill and Other. The amendments modify Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test for reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts. For those reporting units, an entity is required to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test if it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists. In determining whether it is more likely than not that goodwill impairment exists, an entity should consider whether there are any adverse qualitative factors indicating that impairment may exist. The qualitative factors are consistent with the existing guidance and examples, which require that goodwill of a reporting unit be tested for impairment between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount. For public entities, the amendments are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2010. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company does not believe that this guidance will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Subsequent Events: The FASB has issued amended guidance for subsequent events. The amendment removes the requirement for an SEC filer to disclose a date through which subsequent events have been evaluated in both issued and revised financial statements. Revised financial statements include financial statements revised as a result of either correction of an error or retrospective application of U.S. GAAP. The FASB also clarified that if the financial statements have been revised, then an entity that is not an SEC filer should disclose both the date that the financial statements were issued or available to be issued and the date the revised financial statements were issued or available to be issued. The FASB believes these amendments remove potential conflicts with the SEC's literature. All of the amendments were effective upon issuance (February 24, 2010). The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
Receivables: In July 2010, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2010-20, “Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses.” ASU No. 2010-20 amends the guidance with ASC Topic 310, “Receivables” to facilitate financial statement users’ evaluation of (1) the nature of credit risk inherent in the entity’s portfolio of financing receivables; (2) how that risk is analyzed and assessed in arriving at the allowance for credit losses; and (3) the changes and reasons for those changes in the allowance for credit losses. The amendments in ASU No. 2010-20 also require an entity to provide additional disclosures such as a rollforward schedule of the allowance for credit losses on a portfolio segment basis, credit quality indicators of financing receivables and the aging of past due financing receivables. The Company is required to adopt ASU No. 2010-20 as of December 15, 2010 and is currently evaluating the impact the new disclosure requirements will have on its financial statements and notes.
Fair Value Measurements: In January 2010, the FASB issued amended guidance for Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures. This update requires some new disclosures and clarifies existing disclosure requirements about fair value measurement. The FASB's objective is to improve these disclosures and, thus, increase the transparency in financial reporting. Specifically, this update requires that a reporting entity disclose separately the amounts of significant transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements and describe the reasons for the transfers; and in the reconciliation for fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs, a reporting entity should present separately information about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements. In addition, this update clarifies the requirements of existing disclosures. For purposes of reporting fair value measurement for each class of assets and liabilities, a reporting entity needs to use judgment in determining the appropriate classes of assets and liabilities; and a reporting entity should provide disclosures about the valuation techniques and inputs used to measure fair value for both recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements. This update was adopted on January 1, 2010, except for the disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements in the roll forward of activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. Those disclosures are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010, and for interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is permitted. The Company does not believe that this guidance will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
We cannot predict what future laws and regulations might be passed that could have a material effect on our results of operations. We assess the impact of significant changes in laws and regulations on a regular basis and update the assumptions and estimates used to prepare our financial statements when we deem it necessary.
We have determined the significant principles by considering accounting policies that involve the most complex or subjective decisions or assessments. Our most significant accounting policies are those related to revenue recognition and deferred revenue.
Revenue is recognized in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 104, Revenue Recognition, which states that revenue should be recognized when the following criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; (2) the service has been rendered; (3) the selling price is fixed or determinable; and (4) collection of the resulting receivable is reasonably assured. We believe that these criteria are satisfied upon customers’ download of prepaid study materials. Prepaid debit cards allow our subscribers to purchase a predetermined monetary amount of download materials posted on our website. Prepaid service contracts are amortized to income on a straight line basis over the length of the service contract. These service contracts allow the user to obtain materials for a designed period of time. At the time that the prepaid debit card is purchased, the receipt of cash is recorded as deferred revenue. Revenue is recognized in the month when services are actually rendered. Unused value relating to debit cards is recognized as revenue when the prepaid debit card has expired. Revenue from advertising on our website is recognized when the advertisement is run. Since advertising customers are billed monthly, there are no unearned advertising revenue.
The Company engages an advertisement agency to manage its on-line advertisement revenue. Per the contract with this agency, upon posting of an on-line advertisement on the Company’s website, the Company is entitled to share with the agency 50% of the amount charged to the on-line advertiser. The Company recognizes revenue upon posting of an advertisement on their web-site. The agency is responsible for collection of all ad revenue from advertisers. The agency is required to make their remittance for on-line advertising six months after on-line ads are posted on their website.
Prepaid expenses are primarily comprised of advance payments made for services to teachers for on-line materials and video and prepaid rent.
Deferred revenue includes subscriber prepayments and education fee prepayments. Subscriber prepayments represents deferred revenue for the purchase of debit cards used to pay for the on-line downloading of education materials, including testing booklets, supplemental materials and teaching video clips. We value the sales based on the actual occurrence of customer download. Therefore, the spare time between the purchase of debit cards and actual download is recorded under advances on accounts as deferred or unearned revenue. Once the download takes place, the amount is then transferred from advances on accounts to sales. Education fee prepayments represent tuition payments and payments for service contracts which are amortized over their respective terms.
We do not have any stock option or other equity-based incentive plans for our officers, directors or key employees. To the extent that we do adopt such plans in the future, such grants will be valued at the granting date and expensed over the applicable vesting period as required by Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 123(revised 2004), “Share-Based Payments.”
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Recent accounting pronouncements applicable to the Company are summarized below.
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In June 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2009-01, “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (ASC Topic 105) which establishes the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“the Codification” or “ASC”) as the official single source of authoritative U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). All existing accounting standards are superseded. All other accounting guidance not included in the Codification will be considered non-authoritative. The Codification also includes all relevant Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) guidance organized using the same topical structure in separate sections within the Codification. Following the Codification, the Board will not issue new standards in the form of Statements, FASB Staff Positions or Emerging Issues Task Force Abstracts. Instead, it will issue Accounting Standards Updates (“ASU”), which will serve to update the Codification, provide background information about the guidance and provide the basis for conclusions on the changes to the Codification. The Codification is not intended to change GAAP, but it will change the way GAAP is organized and presented. The Codification was effective for our third-quarter 2009 financial statements and the principal impact on our financial statements is limited to disclosures as all future references to authoritative accounting literature will be referenced in accordance with the Codification. In order to ease the transition to the Codification, we are providing the Codification cross-reference alongside the references to the standards issued and adopted prior to the adoption of the Codification.
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In October 2009, the FASB issued an ASU regarding accounting for own-share lending arrangements in contemplation of convertible debt issuance or other financing. This ASU requires that at the date of issuance of the shares in a share-lending arrangement entered into in contemplation of a convertible debt offering or other financing, the shares issued shall be measured at fair value and be recognized as an issuance cost, with an offset to additional paid-in capital. Further, loaned shares are excluded from basic and diluted earnings per share unless default of the share-lending arrangement occurs, at which time the loaned shares would be included in the basic and diluted earnings-per-share calculation. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2009, and interim periods within those fiscal years for arrangements outstanding as of the beginning of those fiscal years. The adoption of this ASU has had minimal to no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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In December 2009, the FASB issued ASU No. 2009-16, Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets. This Accounting Standards Update amends the FASB Accounting Standards Codification for the issuance of FASB Statement No. 166, Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets-an amendment of FASB Statement No. 140. The amendments in this Accounting Standards Update improve financial reporting by eliminating the exceptions for qualifying special-purpose entities from the consolidation guidance and the exception that permitted sale accounting for certain mortgage securitizations when a transferor has not surrendered control over the transferred financial assets. In addition, the amendments require enhanced disclosures about the risks that a transferor continues to be exposed to because of its continuing involvement in transferred financial assets. Comparability and consistency in accounting for transferred financial assets will also be improved through clarifications of the requirements for isolation and limitations on portions of financial assets that are eligible for sale accounting. The Company does not expect the adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
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In December, 2009, the FASB issued ASU No. 2009-17, Improvements to Financial Reporting by Enterprises Involved with Variable Interest Entities. This Accounting Standards Update amends the FASB Accounting Standards Codification for the issuance of FASB Statement No. 167, Amendments to FASB Interpretation No. 46(R). The amendments in this Accounting Standards Update replace the quantitative-based risks and rewards calculation for determining which reporting entity, if any, has a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity with an approach focused on identifying which reporting entity has the power to direct the activities of a variable interest entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and (1) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or (2) the right to receive benefits from the entity. An approach that is expected to be primarily qualitative will be more effective for identifying which reporting entity has a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity. The amendments in this Update also require additional disclosures about a reporting entity’s involvement in variable interest entities, which will enhance the information provided to users of financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this ASU. The Company does not expect the adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
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In January 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-02 regarding accounting and reporting for decreases in ownership of a subsidiary. Under this guidance, an entity is required to deconsolidate a subsidiary when the entity ceases to have a controlling financial interest in the subsidiary. Upon deconsolidation of a subsidiary, an entity recognizes a gain or loss on the transaction and measures any retained investment in the subsidiary at fair value. In contrast, an entity is required to account for a decrease in its ownership interest of a subsidiary that does not result in a change of control of the subsidiary as an equity transaction. This ASU clarifies the scope of the decrease in ownership provisions, and expands the disclosures about the deconsolidation of a subsidiary or de-recognition of a group of assets. This ASU is effective beginning in the first interim or annual reporting period ending on or after December 31, 2009. The adoption of this ASU has had minimal to no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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In January 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-01- Accounting for Distributions to Shareholders with Components of Stock and Cash. The amendments in this Update clarify that the stock portion of a distribution to shareholders that allows them to elect to receive cash or stock with a potential limitation on the total amount of cash that all shareholders can elect to receive in the aggregate is considered a share issuance that is reflected in EPS prospectively and is not a stock dividend for purposes of applying Topics 505 and 260 (Equity and Earnings Per Share). The amendments in this update are effective for interim and annual periods ending on or after December 15, 2009, and should be applied on a retrospective basis. The adoption of this ASU has had minimal to no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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In January 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-02 - Accounting and Reporting for Decreases in Ownership of a Subsidiary - a Scope Clarification. The amendments in this Update affect accounting and reporting by an entity that experiences a decrease in ownership in a subsidiary that is a business or nonprofit activity. The amendments also affect accounting and reporting by an entity that exchanges a group of assets that constitutes a business or nonprofit activity for an equity interest in another entity. The amendments in this update are effective beginning in the period that an entity adopts SFAS No. 160, “Non-controlling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements - An Amendment of ARB No. 51.” If an entity has previously adopted SFAS No. 160 as of the date the amendments in this update are included in the Accounting Standards Codification, the amendments in this update are effective beginning in the first interim or annual reporting period ending on or after December 15, 2009. The amendments in this update should be applied retrospectively to the first period that an entity adopted SFAS No. 160. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
·
In January 2010, the FASB issued ASU No. 2010-06 - Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements. This update provides amendments to Subtopic 820-10 that requires new disclosure as follows: 1) Transfers in and out of Levels 1 and 2. A reporting entity should disclose separately the amounts of significant transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements and describe the reasons for the transfers. 2) Activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. In the reconciliation for fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3), a reporting entity should present, separately, information about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements (that is, on a gross basis rather than as one net number). This update provides amendments to Subtopic 820-10 that clarifies existing disclosures as follows: 1) Level of disaggregation. A reporting entity should provide fair value measurement disclosures for each class of assets and liabilities. A class is often a subset of assets or liabilities within a line item in the statement of financial position. A reporting entity needs to use judgment in determining the appropriate classes of assets and liabilities. 2) Disclosures about inputs and valuation techniques. A reporting entity should provide disclosures about the valuation techniques and inputs used to measure fair value for both recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements. Those disclosures are required for fair value measurements that fall in either Level 2 or Level 3. The new disclosures and clarifications of existing disclosures are effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for the disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements in the roll forward of activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. Those disclosures are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010, and for interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this ASU has had minimal to no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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On March 5, 2010, the FASB issued authoritative guidance to clarify the type of embedded credit derivative that is exempt from embedded derivative bifurcation requirements. Specifically, only one form of embedded credit derivative qualifies for the exemption - one that is related only to the subordination of one financial instrument to another. As a result, entities that have contracts containing an embedded credit derivative feature in a form other than such subordination may need to separately account for the embedded credit derivative feature. This guidance also has transition provisions, which permit entities to make a special one-time election to apply the fair value option to any investment in a beneficial interest in securitized financial assets, regardless of whether such investments contain embedded derivative features. This guidance is effective on the first day of the first fiscal quarter beginning after June 15, 2010. Early adoption is permitted at the beginning of any fiscal quarter beginning after March 5, 2010. This amendment is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements
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In March 2010, the FASB issued an authoritative pronouncement regarding the effect of denominating the exercise price of a share-based payment awards in the currency of the market in which the underlying equity securities trades and that currency is different from (1) the entity’s functional currency, (2) the functional currency of the foreign operation for which the employee provides services, and (3) the payroll currency of the employee. The guidance clarifies that an employee share-based payment award with an exercise price denominated in the currency of a market in which a substantial portion of the entity’s equity securities trades should be considered an equity award assuming all other criteria for equity classification are met. The pronouncement will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2010, and will be applied prospectively. Affected entities will be required to record a cumulative catch-up adjustment for all awards outstanding as of the beginning of the annual period in which the guidance is adopted. This amendment is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.
·
In April 2010, the FASB issued Update No. 2010-17, or ASU 2010-17, Revenue Recognition-Milestone Method, which updates the guidance currently included under topic 605, Revenue Recognition. ASU 2010-17 provides guidance on defining the milestone and determining when the use of the milestone method of revenue recognition for research or development transactions is appropriate. It provides criteria for evaluating if the milestone is substantive and clarifies that a vendor can recognize consideration that is contingent upon achievement of a milestone as revenue in the period in which the milestone is achieved, if the milestone meets all the criteria to be considered substantive. ASU 2010-17 is effective for milestones achieved in fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after June 15, 2010 and should be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact, if any, of the new accounting guidance on its consolidated financial statements.
·
In April 2010, the FASB issued an authoritative pronouncement on effect of denominating the exercise price of a share-based payment award in the currency of the market in which the underlying equity securities trades and that currency is different from (1) the entity's functional currency, (2) the functional currency of the foreign operation for which the employee provides services, and (3) the payroll currency of the employee. The pronouncement clarifies that an employee share-based payment award with an exercise price denominated in the currency of a market in which a substantial portion of the entity's equity securities trades should not be considered to contain a condition that is not a market, performance, or service condition, and therefore should be considered an equity award assuming all other criteria for equity classification are met. The pronouncement is for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2010, and will be applied prospectively. Affected companies will be required to record a cumulative catch-up adjustment for all awards outstanding as of the beginning of the annual period in which the guidance is adopted. This amendment is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.
A variety of proposed or otherwise potential accounting standards are currently under study by standard setting organizations and various regulatory agencies. Due to the tentative and preliminary nature of those proposed standards, management has not determined whether implementation of such proposed standards would be material to the consolidated statements.
Results of Operations
Comparison of Year Ended December 31, 2010 and 2009
The following table sets forth information from our statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2010 and 2009:
Our net cash provided by operating activities was $17,368,371 for the year ended December 31, 2010, a decrease of $1,184,796 or 6.39% from $18,553,167 for the same period in 2009. This decrease was due to an increase in accounts receivable of $2,079,847, an increase in depreciation and amortization of $105,730 and an increase in deferred revenue of $282,411, an increase in net income of $34,018 and a decrease of stock based compensation of $306,546 and stock issued for services of $1,043,464, and loss on equity investment of $218,254 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2009.
We operate in one business segment, that of education, in which we operate three revenue generating areas of online education, education training centers and on-line advertising. The following table sets forth information as to the gross margin for our three revenue generating areas for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.
Revenue. Revenue increased by $9,299,506 or 25.2% in fiscal year 2010 to $46,266,989 compared to $36,967,483 in 2009, resulting in gross profit of $38,089,010 for fiscal year 2010 as compared to gross profit of $29,602,544 for fiscal year 2009. The increase in revenue reflected increases of $6,257,277 from our on-line education area, $3,935,922 for our training center area, and a decrease of $893,693 from our other revenue area. Other revenue is not the focus of our business, and in the future we will continue to focus on our two main business lines - examination preparation and vocational training. We will not expect to see significant changes on the current level of other revenue during this year.
Cost of sales. Our overall cost of sales increased by $813,040 to $8,177,979 in fiscal year 2010 as compared to $7,364,939 for the fiscal year in 2009. The increase in cost of sales reflects a $213,740 increase in our cost of sales for our on-line education segment, a $662,525 increase in cost of sales for our training center segment and a $63,226 decrease from our other costs. The online education gross profit increased to 83.2% in fiscal year 2010 from 79.4% in fiscal year 2009. Our training center segment’s gross profit increase to 79.8% in fiscal year 2010 from 78.8% in fiscal year 2009 due to an increase in demand of training courses. Our other segment’s gross margin was at 91.5% in fiscal year 2010 compared with 92.0% in fiscal year 2009 due to the fact that other cost are somewhat fixed and margins increase with volume.
Selling expenses. Selling expenses increased by $7,898,395, or 84.5%, to $17,250,787 in fiscal year 2010 from $9,352,392 in fiscal year 2009. The increase in selling expense included agency fees associated with increased sales of our debit cards.
Administrative expenses. Administrative expenses increased by $204,022, or 6.5 % to $3,349,116 for fiscal year 2010 as compared to $3,145,094 in fiscal year 2009. The slight increase was mainly due to finishing the renovations on the ZHLD office building, and the increase of U.S. parent company expenses. Total administrative expenses were only about 7.2% of our total revenue. Depreciation and amortization expenses decreased slightly over the same period of last year due to some intangible and fixed assets having been fully depreciated.
Interest income. Interest income increased by $93,128, or 71.3% to $223,803 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 as compared to $130,675 for the same period in 2009.
Income Taxes. The provision for income tax increased by $352,934, or 27.2% to $1,648,158 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 compared to the same period of last year. In 2010, the applicable income tax rate for the Company was 15% for the Company’s subsidiary ZHLD, as ZHLD had been approved by the local government as being involved in a high technology industry. Otherwise, the regular Chinese statutory tax rate is 25%. The Company’s ZETC subsidiary is currently exempt from PRC taxation, as it operates a business enterprise engaged in educational opportunities. The Company’s other subsidiaries; BHYHZ, ZHLDBJ and New Shifan are taxed at the PRC regular statutory rate (25%), and have not accrued taxes since inception due to recurring losses or not having incurred income since inception.
Net income. As a result of the foregoing, we had net income of $15,262,408, or $0.48 per share basic and 0.48 per share diluted, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, as compared with net income of $15,206,772 or $0.63 per share basic and $0.59 per share diluted, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009. The decreased EPS is due to the increased number of shares outstanding.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2010, we had no off-balance sheet arrangements.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our current assets primarily consist of cash, account receivables, and prepaid expenses. We do not have inventory. Our account receivables are primarily from our advertising business on our websites. Our prepaid expenses are primarily advance payments made to teachers for on-line materials, prepaid advertisement fee and prepaid rent.
At December 31, 2010, we had cash and cash equivalents of $71,105,415, an increase of $6,070,083, or 9.3%, from $65,035,332 at December 31, 2009. This increase reflected principally the net income generated by our business during 2010, as well as exercises of warrants for Common Stock of approximately $298,749 during the year ended December 31, 2010.
Our net cash provided by operating activities was $17,368,371 for the year ended December 31, 2010, a decrease of $1,184,796 or 6.39% from $18,553,167 for the same period in 2009. This decrease was due to an increase in accounts receivable of $2,079,847, an increase in depreciation and amortization of $105,730 and an increase in deferred revenue of $282,411, an increase in net income of $34,018 and a decrease of stock based compensation of $306,546 and stock issued for services of $1,043,464, and loss on equity investment of $218,254 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2009.
At December 31, 2010, we had working capital of $72,613,946, an increase of $5,876,452 from working capital of $66,737,494 at December 31, 2009. We consider current working capital and borrowing capabilities adequate to cover our planned operating and capital requirements.
Accounts payable and accrued expenses at December 31, 2010, were $686,102, a decrease of $569,889, or 45.4%, Deferred revenues at December 31, 2010, were $1,072,373, an increase of $63,489 from $1,008,884 at December 31, 2009, resulting from updated payments to vendors during the year.
We believe that our working capital, together with our cash flow from operations will be sufficient to enable us to meet our cash requirements for the next 12 months. However, we may incur additional expenses as we seek to expand our business to offer services in other parts of the PRC as well as to market and continue the development of our vocational training activities, and it is possible that we may require additional funding for that purpose. Although we do not have any current plans to make any acquisitions, it is possible that we may seek to acquire one or more businesses in the education field, and we may require financing for that purpose. We cannot assure you that funding will be available if and when we require funding.
Item 7A.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
Not applicable.
Item 8.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
CHINA EDUCATION ALLIANCE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2010 AND 2009
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Consolidated Statements of Operations
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
CHINA EDUCATION ALLIANCE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Directors
China Education Alliance, Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of China Education Alliance, Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for the years then ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of China Education Alliance, Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2010 and 2009 and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
/s/ Sherb & Co. LLP
New York, New York
April 12, 2011
China Education Alliance, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
China Education Alliance, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
China Education Alliance, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
China Education Alliance, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
CHINA EDUCATION ALLIANCE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2010 AND 2009
1.
Description of Business
Nature of organization - China Education Alliance, Inc. (the “Company”), formerly known as ABC Realty Co., was originally organized under the laws of the State of North Carolina on December 2, 1996. ABC Realty Co.’s primary purpose was to act as a broker or agent in residential real estate transactions. On September 15, 2004, ABC Realty Co. was reorganized pursuant to the Plan of Exchange to acquire Harbin Zhong He Li Da Education Technology, Inc. (“ZHLD”), a corporation formed on August 9, 2004 in the City of Harbin in the Heilongjiang Province, People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”), with an authorized capital of $60,386 (RMB500,000).
On September 15, 2004, ABC Realty Co. executed a Plan of Exchange with ZHLD and Duane C. Bennett, the former Chairman of ABC Realty Co., pursuant to which the shareholders of ZHLD exchanged all of their registered capital of $60,386 for 18,333,334 shares of common stock of the Company, or approximately 95% of the Company’s common stock. On November 17, 2004, ABC Realty Co. changed its name to China Education Alliance, Inc. On December 13, 2004, China Education Alliance, Inc. consummated the Plan of Exchange with ZHLD and ZHLD’s shareholders. As a result of the Plan of Exchange, the transaction was treated for accounting purposes as a recapitalization of ZHLD.
ZHLD is a technology company engaged in the online education industry in the People’s Republic of China. Its mission is to promote online exam preparation services in the People’s Republic of China, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of elementary education, secondary education, vocational education, skill education, continuing education, and professional training programs, and to integrate with the international education system.
ZHLD’s subsidiary, Heilongjiang Zhonghe Education Training Center (“ZHTC”) was registered in the PRC on July 8, 2005 with a registered capital of $60,386 and is accounted for as a wholly owned subsidiary of ZHLD. ZHLD owns 99% of ZHTC with 1% held in trust by Xiqun Yu, the Company’s CEO, for the benefit of China Education Alliance, Inc.
ZHLD also owns 70% of Beijing Hua Yu Hui Zhong Technology Development Co., Ltd. (“BHYHZ”). BHYHZ was formed on September 30, 2006 in the PRC. The remaining 30% interest was given to The Vocational Education Guidance Center of China for no consideration. The 30% interest in BHYHZ that the Company transferred to The Vocational Education Guidance Center of China for no consideration was treated as an intangible asset.
On April 18, 2008, ZHLD entered into an agreement and supplementary agreement with Harbin Daily Newspaper Group (“Newspaper Group”) to invest in a joint venture company, Harbin New Discovery Media Co., Ltd. (“New Discovery”). ZHLD contributed RMB 3,000 000 (approximately, $430,000) and Newspaper Group contributed RMB 3,120,000 (approximately, $445,000) towards the registered capital of New Discovery. In return for their respective contributions, ZHLD own 49.02% equity interest and Newspaper Group own 50.98% equity interest in New Discovery. The parties are prohibited, for the duration of the joint venture from retiring or transferring their equity interests. This joint venture will create new educational material distribution channels in readable newspaper format in the future. The value of this investment as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009 was $559,269 and $341,686, respectively.
On January 4, 2009, China Education Alliance’s subsidiary, Harbin Zhong He Li Da Education Technology, Inc (“ZHLD”) entered into an agreement with Mr. Guang Li to jointly incorporate and invest in a joint venture company, Zhong He Li Da (Beijing) Management Consultant Co., Ltd. (“ZHLDBJ”). ZHLD contributed RMB 425,000 (approximately, $62,107), and Mr. Guang Li contributed RMB 75,000 (approximately, $10,960) towards the registered capital of ZHLDBJ, amounting to a total registered capital of 500,000 RMB (approximately, $73,067). In return for their respective contributions, ZHLD owns an 85% equity interest, and Mr. Guang Li owns a 15% equity interest in ZHLDBJ. ZHLD has authorized Mr. Xiqun Yu, the Company CEO, to hold 20% of its equity interest of ZHLDBJ on its behalf. ZHLDBJ will be involved in the vocational training business which includes IT engineering and accounting training, in particular, in running the “Million Managers Training Program”, with the goal of improving participants’ management skills and designing a complete solution for the management, clients and suppliers.
On April 27, 2008, the Company entered into a Share Transfer Agreement with Mr. Yuli Guo (the “Vendor”) and World Exchanges, Inc. (“WEI”), a provider of English training programs, to purchase from Vendor seventy (70) issued and outstanding ordinary shares in WEI, representing 70% of the entire issued share capital of WEI (the “WEI Acquisition”). WEI is incorporated under the laws of Canada and was organized on December 19, 1991. WEI has been registered at 30 Denton Avenue, Apartment 2216, Toronto, Canada. In consideration for the said shares, the Company issued but held in escrow for the Vendors benefit 400,000 shares of its common stock, with a market value at the date of issuance of $2.33 per share or $932,000, accounted for as an advance on acquisition. The Vendor retained the remaining 30% of the issued share capital of WEI. The Vendor has agreed not to transfer the shares of the Company to a third party for fifteen (15) years and to grant the Company a right of first refusal in the event the Vendor is desirous of selling such shares. On September 20, 2010, the Company cancelled this acquisition, as the Vendor was unable to complete all the required PRC legal procedures necessary for the transactions to be completed. The shares held in escrow were subsequently cancelled by December 31, 2010 and the $932,000 related to these cancelled share reversed.
As of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009 the Company had outstanding operating advances to WEI of $202,722 and $80,000, respectively, which is accounted for as advances to related parties. Management had fully reserved these operating advances as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009.
On February 3, 2010, China Education Alliance, Inc. announced that through its wholly owned subsidiary, Harbin Zhong He Li Da Education Technology, Inc. ("ZHLD"), it has incorporated a new company in the PRC, Beijing New Shifan Education & Technology ("New Shifan"), with a registered capital of RMB 1.95 million. New Shifan was created to continue the operations of Beijing Shifan Culture Communication Co., Ltd. ("Beijing Shifan"). The Company paid the original owner of Beijing Shifan RMB 6 million (approximately $876,000) to acquire their expertise, in (i) science and math education at the secondary education level, (ii) the rights to continue publishing the magazine “Senior High School Students Mathematic, Physics, and Chemistry” and (iii) the rights to a nationwide contest for middle school and high school students. The Company considers the RMB 6 million payment as an intangible asset whose evaluation and life has not been finalized as of December 31, 2010, accordingly no amortization has been recorded. Beijing Shifan will be dissolved by the old owner. The focus of New Shifan is on the advancement of science and mathematics education, the publishing of the "Senior High School Students Mathematic, Physics, and Chemistry" magazine, which has been endorsed by the PRC Ministry of Education. Beijing Shifan is also the sponsor and organizer of a nationwide contest for middle school and high school students. This national competition tests the students' academic abilities in mathematics, physics and chemistry. There are over 100,000 students participating in the contest from 23 provinces in the PRC. Winners of the contest qualify for enrollment in some of the top universities in the People's Republic of China. The new company brings significant impact on the secondary education market in China. Mrs. Yin Xiaojie, the former sole shareholder, owner and CEO of Beijing Shifan, will take on a management position at New Shifan and will own 35% of the equity interest in New Shifan, while ZHLD owns the remaining 65% interest. There has been minimal operating activity from New Shifan for the year ended December 31, 2010.
The Company’s principal business is the distribution of educational resources through the Internet and training centers. The Company’s website, www.edu-chn.com, is a comprehensive education network platform which is based on network video technology and large data sources of elementary and secondary education resources. The Company has a data base comprised of such resources as test papers that are used for elementary and secondary education courses. The data base includes more than 350,000 exams and test papers and courseware for elementary and secondary school students. The Company markets this data base under the name “Famous Instructor Test Paper Store.” Although a number of the resources are available through the website without charge, our subscribers are charged for services such as the “Famous Instructor Test Paper Store” and for videos on demand. Subscribers can purchase debit cards which can be used to download material from the website.
The Company also provides on-site teaching services in Harbin and other cities, which are marketed under the name “Famed Instructors Classroom.” The Company has a 36,600 square foot training facility in Harbin, Heilonjiang Province, the PRC, which has 17 classrooms and can accommodate up to 1,200 students.
For the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, three customers each accounted for greater than 10% of sales during each year. A certain distribution agent in each of Heilongjing, Jinlin and LiaoNing Provinces accounted for 15.3%, 13.5%, and 14.2%, respectively of the total revenue for the year 2010, and 14.8%, 11.3% and 14.0%, respectively of total revenue for the year 2009.
Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements
The accompanying consolidated financial statements differ from the financial statements used for statutory purposes in the PRC in that they have been prepared in compliance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and reflect certain adjustments, recorded on the entities’ books, which are appropriate to present the financial position, results of operations and cash flows in accordance with GAAP. The principal adjustments are related to revenue recognition, foreign currency translation, deferred taxation, consolidation, and depreciation and valuation of property and equipment and intangible assets.
3.
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Principles of Consolidation - The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly subsidiaries (ZHLD and ZHTC) and its majority owned subsidiaries (BHYHZ, ZHLDBJ and New Shifan). All inter-company transactions and balances were eliminated.
Use of estimates - The preparation of these financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of net sales and expenses during the reported periods.
Significant estimates include values and lives assigned to acquire intangible assets, the useful lives and impairment of property and equipment, collectability of accounts receivable, reserves for allowances and stock option valuation. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
Cash and cash equivalents - The Company considers all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with a maturity period of three months or less to be cash or cash equivalents. The carrying amounts reported in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets for cash and cash equivalents approximate their fair value. All of the Company’s cash that is held in bank accounts in the PRC is not protected by FDIC insurance or any other similar insurance in the PRC. The cash that the Company maintains in US banks is insured up to $250,000 at each bank as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009. The Company’s cash at their US banks is in excess of statutorily insured limits at approximately $960,000 and $14,636,000, respectively, as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009.
Property and equipment - Property and equipment is stated at the historical cost, less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation on property, plant and equipment is provided using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets after taking into account a 5% residual value for both financial and income tax reporting purposes as follows:
Buildings
20 years
Communication Equipment
10 years
Transportation Vehicles
5 years
Furniture and Fixtures
5 years
Expenditures for renewals and betterments are capitalized while repairs and maintenance costs are normally charged to the statement of operations in the year in which they are incurred. In situations where it can be clearly demonstrated that the expenditure has resulted in an increase in the future economic benefits expected to be obtained from the use of the asset, the expenditure is capitalized as an additional cost of the asset.
Upon sale or disposal of an asset, the historical cost and related accumulated depreciation or amortization of such asset are removed from their respective accounts and any gain or loss is recorded in the Statements of Operations.
The Company reviews the carrying value of property, plant, and equipment for impairment whenever events and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable from the estimated future cash flows expected to result from its use and eventual disposition. In cases where undiscounted expected future cash flows are less than the carrying value, an impairment loss is recognized equal to an amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value of assets. The factors considered by management in performing this assessment include current operating results, trends and prospects, the manner in which the property is used, and the effects of obsolescence, demand, competition, and other economic factors. Based on this assessment there was no impairment at December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009.
Intangibles - Intangibles consist of franchise rights on educational products, software, and New Shifan’s expertise, magazine rights and contest operation rights. Most intangible assets are amortized over the lives of the rights agreements, or their respective operational useful lives. The Company has not completed its evaluation of New Shifan’s intangible as of December 31, 2010, accordingly no amortization has been calculated for twelve months ended December 31, 2010.
The Company evaluates the carrying value of intangible assets during the fourth quarter of each year and between annual evaluations if events occur, or circumstances change, that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of the intangible asset below its carrying amount. There were no impairments recorded as of December 31, 2010 and 2009.
Long-Lived Assets - The Company reviews its long-lived assets for impairment when changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Long-lived assets under certain circumstances are reported at the lower of carrying amount or fair value. Assets to be disposed of and assets not expected to provide any future service potential to the company are recorded at the lower of carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell. To the extent carrying values exceed fair values; an impairment loss is recognized in operating results.
Foreign Currency - The Company’s principal country of operations is the PRC. The financial position and results of operations of the Company are recorded in Renminbi (“RMB”) as the functional currency. The results of operations denominated in foreign currency are translated at the average rate of exchange during the respective reporting period.
Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are translated at the market rate of exchange at that date. The registered equity capital denominated in the functional currency is translated at the historical rate of exchange at the time of capital contribution. All translation adjustments resulting from the translation of the financial statements into the reporting currency (“U.S. Dollars”) are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income, a separate component within shareholders’ equity.The accompanying consolidated financial statements are presented in United States dollars (“US$”). The functional currency of the Company is Renminbi (“RMB”). The consolidated financial statements are translated into United States dollars from RMB at year-end exchange rates as to assets and liabilities and average exchange rates as to revenues and expenses. Capital accounts are translated at their historical exchange rates when the capital transactions occurred. The resulting translation adjustments are recorded as a component of shareholders’ equity included in comprehensive income. Gains and losses from foreign currency transactions are included in net income. There were no gains and losses from foreign currency transactions during the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.
The RMB is not freely convertible into foreign currency and all foreign exchange transactions must take place through authorized institutions. No representation is made that the RMB amounts could have been, or could be, converted into US$ at the rates used in translation.
Noncontrolling Interest - Noncontrolling interests in the Company’s subsidiaries are recorded in accordance with the provisions of FASB Accounting Standards Codification 810 Consolidation (“ASC 810”) and are reported as a component of equity, separate from the parent’s equity. Purchase or sale of equity interests that do not result in a change of control are accounted for as equity transactions. Results of operations attributable to the noncontrolling interest are included in our consolidated results of operations and, upon loss of control, the interest sold, as well as interest retained, if any, will be reported at fair value with any gain or loss recognized in earnings.
Revenue recognition - Revenue is recognized when the following criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; (2) the service has been rendered; (3) the selling price is fixed or determinable; and (4) collection of the resulting receivable is reasonably assured. The Company believes that these criteria are satisfied when customers download prepaid study materials.
Prepaid debit cards allow the Company’s subscribers to purchase a predetermined monetary amount of download materials posted on its website. The Company tracks usage of the debit card and records revenue when the debit card is used.
At the time that the prepaid debit card is purchased, the receipt of cash is recorded as deferred revenue. Revenues are recognized in the month when the card is used. Unused value relating to debit cards is recognized as revenues when the prepaid debit card expires.
Tuition from courses is recognized ratably over the period that fees are earned, typically the life of the course. The Company offer credits to students if they should withdraw, or be unable to complete their required courses. Historically the issuances of credits have not been high with regards to tuition fees. The Company offers cash refunds on a limited basis based on individual circumstances.
The Company engages an advertisement agency to manage its on-line advertisement revenue. Per the contract with this agency, upon posting of an on-line advertisement on the Company’s website, the Company is entitled to share with the agency 50% of the amount charged to the on-line advertiser. The Company recognizes advertising revenue over the term of the advertisement. The agency is responsible for collection of all ad revenue from advertisers. The agency is required to make their remittance for on-line advertising six months after on-line ads are posted on their website.
Deferred revenue reflects the unearned portion of debit cards sold and tuition. Tuition is recognized as revenue ratably over the periods in which it is earned, generally the term of the program or as the debit card is used.
Accounts Receivables - Included in accounts receivables are receivables from advertising on the Company’s websites and from the sale of prepaid debit cards to resellers. The sales of prepaid debit cards to resellers are recorded as deferred revenue until such time as the cards are used to download material from the Company’s website. Total accounts receivables as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009 was $0 and $1,274,727, respectively.
The Company reviews its accounts receivables on a periodic basis and makes general and specific allowances when there is doubt as to the collectability of individual balances. In evaluating the collectability of individual receivable balances, the Company considers many factors, including the age of the balance, customer’s historical payment history, its current credit-worthiness and current economic trends. Accounts are written off after exhaustive efforts at collection. If accounts receivable are to be provided for, or written off, they would be recognized in the consolidated statement of operations within operating expenses. As of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the Company has not established an allowance for doubtful accounts, in addition the Company has not provided for, or written off, accounts receivable during the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.
Deferred Revenue - Deferred revenue reflects the unearned portion of debit cards sold and tuition payments received. Deferred revenue as of December 31, 2010 and 2009 was $1,072,373 and $1,008,884, respectively.
Advertising - The Company expenses advertising costs at the time they are published in the newspaper and for all other advertising the first time the respective advertising takes place. These costs are included in selling, general and administrative expenses. The total advertising expenses incurred for the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 were $1,308,290 and $1,093,535, respectively.
Taxation - Taxation on profits earned in the PRC are calculated on the estimated assessable profits for the year at the rates of taxation prevailing in the PRC after taking into effect the benefits from any special tax credits or “tax holidays” allowed in the PRC.
The Company does not accrue United States income tax on unremitted earnings from foreign operations as it is the Company’s intention to invest these earnings in foreign operations for the foreseeable future. All Company revenues are generated in the PRC. The Company’s US operations provide corporate and administrative functions for the entire Company. The Company’s tax provisions for the year ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 are related to the Company’s PRC operations.
If the Company should have an uncertainty in accounting for income taxes, the Company evaluates a tax position in a two step process. The first step is to determine whether it is more-likely-than-not that a tax position will be sustained upon examination, including the resolution of any related appeals or litigation based on the technical merits of the position. The second step is to measure the tax position that meets the more-likely-than-not threshold to determine the amount of provision or benefit to be recognized in the financial statements. A tax position is measured at the largest amount of provision or benefit where there is a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement.
Tax positions that previously failed to meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold should be recognized in the first subsequent period in which the threshold is met. Previously recognized tax positions that no longer meet the more-likely-than-not criteria should be de-recognized in the first subsequent reporting period in which the threshold is no longer met.
Based on all known facts and circumstances and current tax law, the Company believes that the total amount of unrecognized tax provisions or benefits as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, is not material to its results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. The Company also believes that the total amount of unrecognized tax provisions or benefits as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, if recognized, would not have a material effect on its effective tax rate. The Company further believes that there are no tax positions for which it is reasonably possible, based on current Chinese tax law and policy, that the unrecognized tax provisions or benefits will significantly increase or decrease over the next 12 months producing, individually or in the aggregate, a material effect on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.
Enterprise income tax
Under the Provisional Regulations of the PRC Concerning Income Tax on Enterprises promulgated by the State Council which came into effect on January 1, 1994, income tax is payable by Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprises (“WOFE’s”) at a rate of 15% of their taxable income. Preferential tax treatment may, however, be granted pursuant to any law or regulations from time to time promulgated by the State Council. ZHLD enjoyed a 100% exemption from enterprise income taxes during 2006 due to its classification as a WOFE. This exemption ended on December 31, 2006, at which time ZHLD qualified under the then current tax structure for a 50% reduction in the statutory enterprise income tax rates for the three years ended December 31, 2007, 2008 and 2009. For the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007, ZHLD’s effective income tax rate was at 7.5%, based on having received a 50% exemption in the year ended December 31, 2007 when the prevailing effective tax rate was 30%, and an additional 50% exemption as ZHLD was a technology and software entity. During the year ended December 31, 2009, ZHLD obtained similar exemptions to those of the year ended December 31, 2008; however, the prevailing tax rate had a minimum threshold of 10% for the year ended December 31, 2009. In the current fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 ZHLD continues being qualified as a technology and software entity, and receives a 15% statutory PRC enterprise income tax rate. The Company’s ZETC subsidiary is currently exempt from PRC taxation, as it operates a business enterprise engaged in educational opportunities. The Company’s other subsidiaries; BHYHZ, ZHLDBJ and New Shifan are taxed at the PRC statutory rate (25%), and have not accrued for taxes since inception, due to recurring losses or no income incurred since inception.
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax basis. Deferred tax assets, including tax loss and credit carry forwards, and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect of deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Deferred income tax expense represents the change during the period in the deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities. The components of the deferred tax assets and liabilities are individually classified as current and non-current based on their characteristics. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The Company has no net deferred tax assets or liabilities as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009. In addition, the Company has not recorded a deferred tax expense for the twelve months periods ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.
Value added tax
The Provisional Regulations of the People’s Republic of China Concerning Value Added Tax (VAT) promulgated by the State Council came into effect on January 1, 1994. Under these regulations and the Implementing Rules of the Provisional Regulations of the PRC Concerning Value Added Tax, VAT is imposed on goods sold in or imported into the PRC and on processing, repair and replacement services provided within the PRC.
VAT payable in the PRC is charged on an aggregated basis at a rate of 13% or 17% (depending on the type of goods involved) on the full price collected for the goods sold or, in the case of taxable services provided, at a rate of 17% on the charges for the taxable services provided, but excluding, in respect of both goods and services, any amount paid in respect of VAT included in the price or charges, less any deductible VAT already paid by the taxpayer on purchases of goods and services in the same financial year. The Company records all revenues net of VAT taxes.
Related party - A related party is a company, or individual, in which a director or an officer has beneficial interests in and in which the Company has significant influence.
As of December 31, 2010 and 2009 the Company has no related party transactions.
Stock based compensation - The Company records compensation expense associated with stock-based awards and other forms of equity compensation. Such compensation would include the recording of cost resulting from all stock-based payment transactions including shares issued under its stock option plans. The Company records expense over the vesting period in connection with stock options granted. The compensation expense for stock-based awards includes an estimate for forfeitures and is recognized over the expected term of the award on a straight line basis.
Fair value of financial instruments - The Company has adopted newly issued generally accepted accounting principles with regards to fair value measurement for assets and liabilities that establishes a common definition for fair value to be applied to existing generally accepted accounting principles that require the use of fair value measurements, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure about such fair value measurements. The adoption of these recently issued principles did not have an impact on the Company’s financial position or operating results, but did expand certain disclosures.
Current fair value of financial instruments defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Additionally, current standards require the use of valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. These inputs are prioritized below:
Level 1:
Observable inputs such as quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities
Level 2:
Observable market-based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data
Level 3:
Unobservable inputs for which there is little or no market data, which require the use of the reporting entity’s own assumptions.
The Company did not have any Level 2 or Level 3 assets or liabilities as of December 31, 2010.
Cash and cash equivalents of approximately $71,105,000 and $65,035,000 as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively, include only cash on hand and in banks that are considered to be highly liquid and easily tradable as of December 31, 2010. These securities are valued using inputs observable in active markets for identical securities and are therefore classified as Level 1 within our fair value hierarchy.
In addition to fair value requirements noted above, recent standards expands opportunities for the use of fair value measurements in financial reporting and permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value. The Company did not elect the fair value options for any of its qualifying financial instruments.
Reclassifications - Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior periods’ financial statements to conform to the current year presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on previously reported results of operations or the sum of retained earnings and statutory reserve.
Recent accounting pronouncements -
Recent accounting pronouncements applicable to the Company are summarized below.
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In June 2009, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2009-01, “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (ASC Topic 105) which establishes the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“the Codification” or “ASC”) as the official single source of authoritative U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). All existing accounting standards are superseded. All other accounting guidance not included in the Codification will be considered non-authoritative. The Codification also includes all relevant Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) guidance organized using the same topical structure in separate sections within the Codification. Following the Codification, the Board will not issue new standards in the form of Statements, FASB Staff Positions or Emerging Issues Task Force Abstracts. Instead, it will issue Accounting Standards Updates (“ASU”) which will serve to update the Codification, provide background information about the guidance and provide the basis for conclusions on the changes to the Codification. The Codification is not intended to change GAAP, but it will change the way GAAP is organized and presented. The Codification was effective for our third-quarter 2009 financial statements and the principal impact on our financial statements is limited to disclosures as all future references to authoritative accounting literature will be referenced in accordance with the Codification. In order to ease the transition to the Codification, we are providing the Codification cross-reference alongside the references to the standards issued and adopted prior to the adoption of the Codification.
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In October 2009, the FASB issued an ASU regarding accounting for own-share lending arrangements in contemplation of convertible debt issuance or other financing. This ASU requires that at the date of issuance of the shares in a share-lending arrangement entered into in contemplation of a convertible debt offering or other financing, the shares issued shall be measured at fair value and be recognized as an issuance cost, with an offset to additional paid-in capital. Further, loaned shares are excluded from basic and diluted earnings per share unless default of the share-lending arrangement occurs, at which time the loaned shares would be included in the basic and diluted earnings-per-share calculation. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2009, and interim periods within those fiscal years for arrangements outstanding as of the beginning of those fiscal years. The adoption of this ASU has had minimal to no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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In December 2009, FASB issued ASU No. 2009-16, Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets. This Accounting Standards Update amends the FASB Accounting Standards Codification for the issuance of FASB Statement No. 166, Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets-an amendment of FASB Statement No. 140.The amendments in this Accounting Standards Update improve financial reporting by eliminating the exceptions for qualifying special-purpose entities from the consolidation guidance and the exception that permitted sale accounting for certain mortgage securitizations when a transferor has not surrendered control over the transferred financial assets. In addition, the amendments require enhanced disclosures about the risks that a transferor continues to be exposed to because of its continuing involvement in transferred financial assets. Comparability and consistency in accounting for transferred financial assets will also be improved through clarifications of the requirements for isolation and limitations on portions of financial assets that are eligible for sale accounting. The Company does not expect the adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
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In December, 2009, FASB issued ASU No. 2009-17, Improvements to Financial Reporting by Enterprises Involved with Variable Interest Entities. This Accounting Standards Update amends the FASB Accounting Standards Codification for the issuance of FASB Statement No. 167, Amendments to FASB Interpretation No. 46(R). The amendments in this Accounting Standards Update replace the quantitative-based risks and rewards calculation for determining which reporting entity, if any, has a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity with an approach focused on identifying which reporting entity has the power to direct the activities of a variable interest entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and (1) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or (2) the right to receive benefits from the entity. An approach that is expected to be primarily qualitative will be more effective for identifying which reporting entity has a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity. The amendments in this Update also require additional disclosures about a reporting entity’s involvement in variable interest entities, which will enhance the information provided to users of financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this ASU. The Company does not expect the adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
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In January 2010, FASB issued ASU No. 2010-02 regarding accounting and reporting for decreases in ownership of a subsidiary. Under this guidance, an entity is required to deconsolidate a subsidiary when the entity ceases to have a controlling financial interest in the subsidiary. Upon deconsolidation of a subsidiary, and entity recognizes a gain or loss on the transaction and measures any retained investment in the subsidiary at fair value. In contrast, an entity is required to account for a decrease in its ownership interest of a subsidiary that does not result in a change of control of the subsidiary as an equity transaction. This ASU clarifies the scope of the decrease in ownership provisions, and expands the disclosures about the deconsolidation of a subsidiary or de-recognition of a group of assets. This ASU is effective for beginning in the first interim or annual reporting period ending on or after December 31, 2009. The adoption of this ASU has had minimal to no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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In January 2010, FASB issued ASU No. 2010-01- Accounting for Distributions to Shareholders with Components of Stock and Cash. The amendments in this Update clarify that the stock portion of a distribution to shareholders that allows them to elect to receive cash or stock with a potential limitation on the total amount of cash that all shareholders can elect to receive in the aggregate is considered a share issuance that is reflected in EPS prospectively and is not a stock dividend for purposes of applying Topics 505 and 260 (Equity and Earnings Per Share). The amendments in this update are effective for interim and annual periods ending on or after December 15, 2009, and should be applied on a retrospective basis. The adoption of this ASU has had minimal to no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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In January 2010, FASB issued ASU No. 2010-02 - Accounting and Reporting for Decreases in Ownership of a Subsidiary - a Scope Clarification. The amendments in this Update affect accounting and reporting by an entity that experiences a decrease in ownership in a subsidiary that is a business or nonprofit activity. The amendments also affect accounting and reporting by an entity that exchanges a group of assets that constitutes a business or nonprofit activity for an equity interest in another entity. The amendments in this update are effective beginning in the period that an entity adopts SFAS No. 160, “Non-controlling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements - An Amendment of ARB No. 51.” If an entity has previously adopted SFAS No. 160 as of the date the amendments in this update are included in the Accounting Standards Codification, the amendments in this update are effective beginning in the first interim or annual reporting period ending on or after December 15, 2009. The amendments in this update should be applied retrospectively to the first period that an entity adopted SFAS No. 160. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
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In January 2010, FASB issued ASU No. 2010-06 - Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements. This update provides amendments to Subtopic 820-10 that requires new disclosure as follows: 1) Transfers in and out of Levels 1 and 2. A reporting entity should disclose separately the amounts of significant transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements and describe the reasons for the transfers. 2) Activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. In the reconciliation for fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3), a reporting entity should present separately information about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements (that is, on a gross basis rather than as one net number). This update provides amendments to Subtopic 820-10 that clarifies existing disclosures as follows: 1) Level of disaggregation. A reporting entity should provide fair value measurement disclosures for each class of assets and liabilities. A class is often a subset of assets or liabilities within a line item in the statement of financial position. A reporting entity needs to use judgment in determining the appropriate classes of assets and liabilities. 2) Disclosures about inputs and valuation techniques. A reporting entity should provide disclosures about the valuation techniques and inputs used to measure fair value for both recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements. Those disclosures are required for fair value measurements that fall in either Level 2 or Level 3. The new disclosures and clarifications of existing disclosures are effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for the disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements in the roll forward of activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. Thos disclosures are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010, and for interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this ASU has had minimal to no impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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On March 5, 2010, the FASB issued authoritative guidance to clarify the type of embedded credit derivative that is exempt from embedded derivative bifurcation requirements. Specifically, only one form of embedded credit derivative qualifies for the exemption - one that is related only to the subordination of one financial instrument to another. As a result, entities that have contracts containing an embedded credit derivative feature in a form other than such subordination may need to separately account for the embedded credit derivative feature. This guidance also has transition provisions, which permit entities to make a special one-time election to apply the fair value option to any investment in a beneficial interest in securitized financial assets, regardless of whether such investments contain embedded derivative features. This guidance is effective on the first day of the first fiscal quarter beginning after June 15, 2010. Early adoption is permitted at the beginning of any fiscal quarter beginning after March 5, 2010. This amendment is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.
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In March 2010, FASB issued an authoritative pronouncement regarding the effect of denominating the exercise price of a share-based payment awards in the currency of the market in which the underlying equity securities trades and that currency is different from (1) entity’s functional currency, (2) functional currency of the foreign operation for which the employee provides services, and (3) payroll currency of the employee. The guidance clarifies that an employee share-based payment award with an exercise price denominated in the currency of a market in which a substantial portion of the entity’s equity securities trades should be considered an equity award assuming all other criteria for equity classification are met. The pronouncement will be effective for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2010, and will be applied prospectively. Affected entities will be required to record a cumulative catch-up adjustment for all awards outstanding as of the beginning of the annual period in which the guidance is adopted. This amendment is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.
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In April 2010, the FASB issued Update No. 2010-17, or ASU 2010-17, Revenue Recognition-Milestone Method, which updates the guidance currently included under topic 605, Revenue Recognition. ASU 2010-17 provides guidance on defining the milestone and determining when the use of the milestone method of revenue recognition for research or development transactions is appropriate. It provides criteria for evaluating if the milestone is substantive and clarifies that a vendor can recognize consideration that is contingent upon achievement of a milestone as revenue in the period in which the milestone is achieved, if the milestone meets all the criteria to be considered substantive. ASU 2010-17 is effective for milestones achieved in fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after June 15, 2010 and should be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact, if any, of the new accounting guidance on its consolidated financial statements.
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In April 2010, the FASB issued an authoritative pronouncement on effect of denominating the exercise price of a share-based payment award in the currency of the market in which the underlying equity securities trades and that currency is different from (1) entity's functional currency, (2) functional currency of the foreign operation for which the employee provides services, and (3) payroll currency of the employee. The pronouncement clarifies that an employee share-based payment award with an exercise price denominated in the currency of a market in which a substantial portion of the entity's equity securities trades should not be considered to contain a condition that is not a market, performance, or service condition, and therefore should be considered an equity award assuming all other criteria for equity classification are met. The pronouncement is for interim and annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2010, and will be applied prospectively. Affected companies will be required to record a cumulative catch-up adjustment for all awards outstanding as of the beginning of the annual period in which the guidance is adopted. This amendment is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.
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The FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2010-20. Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses, on July 21, 2010, requiring companies to improve their disclosures about the credit quality of their financing receivables and the credit reserves held against them. The extra disclosures for financing receivables include aging of past due receivables, credit quality indicators, and the modifications of financing receivables. This guidance is effective for interim and annual periods ending on or after December 15, 2010. The Company does not expect the adoption of this update to have a material impact on their consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
A variety of proposed or otherwise potential accounting standards are currently under study by standard setting organizations and various regulatory agencies. Due to the tentative and preliminary nature of those proposed standards, management has not determined whether implementation of such proposed standards would be material to the consolidated statements.
4.
Concentrations of Business and Credit Risk
The majority of the Company’s bank accounts in banks located in the PRC are not covered by any type of protection similar to that provided by the FDIC on funds held in U.S banks.
The Company is operating in People’s Republic of China, which may give rise to significant foreign currency risks from fluctuations and the degree of volatility of foreign exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the RMB.
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk consist principally of cash and trade receivables, the balances of which are stated on the balance sheet. The Company places its cash in high credit quality financial institutions; however, such funds are not insured in the PRC. As of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the Company maintains cash in the US, in a financial institution insured by the FDIC that has approximately $960,000 and $14,636,000, respectively, in funds in excess of FDIC insured amounts.
For the twelve months periods ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, there are three distributed agents are Heilongjing, Jinlin and LiaoNing who are accounted for 15.3%, 13.5% and 14.2%, respectively of total revenue for year 2010 and 14.8%, 11.3% and 14.0% , respectively of total revenue for year 2009.
Payments of dividends may be subject to some restrictions.
5.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents consist of the following:
6.
Account Receivables
Accounts Receivables are all unsecured and due upon demand:
The Mobi advertising is an agent for the Company’s on-line advertising business with trade terms of a six-month receivable period. The others are receivables from sales of prepaid cards to re-sellers.
7.
Prepaid Expenses
Prepaid Expenses consist of the following:
8. Note receivable
On March 4, 2011, the Company entered into a management agreement (the “Management Agreement”) with Nanchang Institute of Technology (“NIT”), a vocational training institution based in Nanchang, People’s Republic of China. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company will manage the daily operations of NIT for ten years for an annual management fee of RMB 10 million. The management fee is payable on a quarterly basis and in the event of late payment, a late fee is imposed. Additionally, a liquidated damage of RMB 50 million will be paid by the party that defaults on the agreement.
In connection with the Management Agreement, the Company entered in to a loan agreement (the “Loan Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company will loan NIT RMB 50 million to build training facilities and NIT will repay the RMB 50 million in ten years from the date NIT receives the principal. The loan has an annual interest rate of 20% and the interests will be waived by the Company if NIT makes all payments under the Management Agreement in a timely manner. In the event it prepays the principal and interests that are not due, NIT is subject to a prepayment penalty in the amount of 25% of the loan principal. The loan is secured by the assets of certain guarantors.
The Company loaned $7,172,301 to NIT on December 15, 2010. The principal on the loan is due in ten years. NIT will pay the Company $1,510,000(RMB 10,000,000) annually under the Management Agreement. The full amount of the loan is due in ten years at the termination of the Agreement. The loan bears interest at 20% per annum. However, no interest will be charged if the Company receives the annual management fee.
As of December 31, 2010, the amount of note receivable was $7,172,301.
9.
Property and Equipment
Property and Equipment consist of the following:
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, depreciation expenses totaled $1,305,595 and $1,041,213 respectively. Allocated in the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.
As of December 31, 2010 the Company does not have any land use rights agreements in the PRC for the office buildings owned by the Company.
In the PRC, land use rights, are the legal rights for an entity to use lands for a fixed period of time. The PRC adopted a dual land tenure system, under which, land ownership is independent of land use rights. The land is either owned by the state (“State Land”) or by rural collective economic organization (“Collective Land”).
10.
Intangibles
Intangibles of the Company consist of franchise rights on educational products, software, and New Shifan’s expertise, magazine rights and contest operation rights.
Franchise Rights
The franchise rights owned by the Company consist of the following:
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The ACCP training course is an authority for training software engineers under authorized training procedures with authorized textbooks.
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The BENET training course is an authority for training internet engineers under authorized training procedures with authorized textbooks.
Capitalized Software
The Capitalized software of the Company consists of all the Company’s software, among which two main ones are the following:
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The Usage rights for job seekers is software to help university students to search jobs, post their resumes, and communicate with potential employers.
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The Usage right for learners is software to help elementary and secondary students to do assignments, test papers, and get instructions from teachers.
New Shifan’s Expertise
New Shifan was created to continue the operations of Beijing Shifan Culture Communication Co., Ltd. ("Beijing Shifan"). The Company paid the original owner of Beijing Shifan RMB 7 million (approximately $1,056,970) to acquire their expertise, in (i) science and math education at the secondary education level, (ii) the rights to continue publishing the magazine “Senior High School Students Mathematic, Physics, and Chemistry” and (iii) the rights to a nationwide contest for middle school and high school students. The Company has considered the RMB 7 million (approximately $1,056,970) as an intangible asset whose evaluation and life has not been finalized as of December 31, 2010, accordingly no amortization has been recorded. There has been minimal operating activity from New Shifan for twelve months ended December 31, 2010.
Intangibles consist of the following:
For the year ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, amortization expenses totaled $386,552 and $574,753 respectively.
Amortization of intangible assets over the next five years excluding the New Shifan intangible asset for which a life has not yet been determined is as follows:
11.
Deferred revenue
Deferred revenue includes subscriber prepayments and education fee prepayments. Subscriber prepayments represent deferred revenue for the purchase of debit cards used to pay for the online downloading of education materials. The Company recognizes revenue when the card is used to download material. During the period between the purchase and use of debit cards, the unused portion of the debit card is treated as deferred revenue to the Company. Education fee prepayments represent payments for tuition for the Company’s training schools, which are amortized over the term of the course. As of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, the Company had deferred revenue of $1,072,373 and $1,008,884, respectively.
12.
Stockholders’ Equity
The Company recorded the following equity transactions during the year ended December 31, 2010.
·
Warrants for the acquisition of 99,583 shares of common stock were exercised, resulting in the issuance of 99,583 share of common stock. Total cash received from exercised warrants was $298,749. There were no warrants outstanding, subsequent to these warrants being exercised, as of December 31, 2010.
·
Options for the acquisition of 20,660 shares of common stock were exercised at price $2.90, resulting in the issuance of 20,660 share of common stock. Total cash received from exercised options were $59,901.
·
A total of 4,502,143 Series A Preferred Shares were converted into 1,500,714 shares of common stock.
·
The Company has repurchased our own stock totaling 412,536 shares for the amount of $977,072.
·
The cancellation of WEI’s 400,000 shares.
The Company recorded the following equity transactions during the year ended December 31, 2009:
-
On June 5, 2009, the Company issued 17,000 common shares with par value US$0.001 per share to Red Chip Companies Inc. for its services at a market value of $46,070.
-
On June 18, 2009, the Company issued 16,334 common shares with par value US$0.001 per share to certain employees according to the Company’s 2009 Incentive Stock Plan Inc. at a market value of $47,369.
-
On October 5, 2009, the Company issued 3,162,055 common shares according to the Underwriting Agreement with Rodman & Renshaw, LLC (the "Underwriter") for the sale of 3,162,055 shares of the Company's common stock, par value $0.001 per share, for a purchase price of $5.17 per share (net of discounts and commissions), which is 94% of the per share public offering price of $5.50 per share.
-
On October 16, 2009, the Company issued 434,308 common shares according to the Underwriting Agreement with Rodman & Renshaw, LLC (the "Underwriter") for the sale of additional 434,308 shares (overallotment), par value $0.001 per share, for a purchase price of $5.17 per share (net of discounts and commissions), which is 94% of the per share public offering price of $5.50 per share.
-
On October 29, 2009, the Company issued 137,005 common shares with par value US$0.001 per share to certain employees according to the Company’s 2009 Incentive Stock Plan Inc. at a market value of $685,025.
-
On November 30, 2009, the Company issued 53,000 common shares with par value US$0.001 per share to Red Chip Companies Inc. for its services according to a Joint Marketing Agreement at a market value of $265,000.
-
During the year ended December 31, 2009 a total of 3,095,502 Series A Preferred Shares were converted into 1,031,834 shares of common stock.
-
During the year ended December 31, 2009, warrants for the acquisition of 3,497,825 shares of common stock were exercised, resulting in the issuance of 3,296,787 share of common stock, of which 364,804 shares were from cashless exercises. Total cash received from exercised warrants were $6,429,725.
Options:
During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company exercise of 20,660 shares of options in the amount of $59,921.
During the year ended December 31, 2010, the total stock based compensation was $180,909.
During the year ended December 31, 2009 the Company established the 2009 Incentive Stock Plan, with 1,000,000 authorized shares to be issued or granted in stock options.
In June 2009 the Company granted options to employees to purchase 396,000 shares of common stock at prices ranging from $2.90 to $3.19 per share. All options granted have a three year life from the date of issuance and all options have an exercise price equal to the market value of the Company’s commons shares on the date of grant. Of these granted options, a total of 366,000 vest in three equal tranches over two years with the first tranche vesting immediately upon the grant date, with the remaining two tranches vesting in equal amounts of shares on the following two anniversary dates from the date of grant. The remaining 30,000 options granted to an employee all vest on the first anniversary of their grant date.
In June 2009 the Company granted an option to purchase 20,000 shares of common stock at $2.90 per share, to a non-employee for legal services rendered. This option has a three year life, is fully vested on the date of grant, and has an exercise price equal to the market value for the Company’s commons shares on the date of grant. The fair value of options granted in June 2009 were estimated on the date of grant using the Blacks-Scholes valuation model and the following assumptions: a risk free interest rate of 1.88%, a weighted expected life of 2.25 year, a dividend rate of 0.0%, and a weighted expected volatility of 151.88%. The Company recorded $418,984 in compensation expenses, net of related tax effects, related to these option grant for the year ended December 31, 2009.
In September 2009 the Company granted options to an employee to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.59 per share. All options granted have a three year life from the date of issuance and all options have an exercise price equal to the market value of the Company’s commons shares on the date of grant. These options, vest in three equal tranches over two years with the first tranche vesting immediately upon the grant date, with the remaining two tranches vesting in equal amounts of shares on the following two anniversary dates from the date of grant.
The fair value of the September 2009 granted options were estimated on the date of grant using the Blacks-Scholes valuation model and the following assumptions: a risk free interest rate of 1.45%, a weighted expected life of 2.25 year, a dividend rate of 0.0%, and a weighted expected volatility of 231.45%. The Company recorded $52,467 in compensation expenses, net of related tax effects, related to this option grant for the year ended December 31, 2009.
In November 2009 the Company granted options to an independent director to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.40 per share. All options granted have one year life from the date of issuance and all options have an exercise price equal to the market value of the Company’s commons shares on the date of grant. These options, vest immediately at the grant date.
The fair value of the November 2009 granted options were estimated on the date of grant using the Blacks-Scholes valuation model and the following assumptions: a risk free interest rate of 0.51%, a weighted expected life of 0.75 year, a dividend rate of 0.0%, and a weighted expected volatility of 83.17%. The Company recorded $12,210 in compensation expenses, net of related tax effects, related to this option grant for the year ended December 31, 2009.
Stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2010 is summarized as follows:
The following table summarizes the Company’s stock options outstanding at December 31, 2010.
14. Earnings Per Share
Per GAAP the Company reconciles the numerator and denominator of the basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) computations.
For the year ended December 31, 2010, dilutive shares include shares attributable to exercisable option only.
The following reconciles the components of the EPS computation:
The number of shares issuable upon the exercise of vested options and warrants excluded from the computations because their effect would be anti-dilutive totalled 30,000 for 2010, and 20,000 for 2009.
15.
Commitments and Contingencies
The Company has been served with two lawsuits, The first, Apicella v. China Education Alliance Inc., et all, No 10-cv-09239 (CAS) (JCx), was filed on Dec. 2, 2010. The second, Clemens v, China Education Alliance Inc., et al, No. 10-cv09987 (JFW) (AGRx) was filed on Dec. 28, 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Both lawsuits claimed, that the Company made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Mr. Clemens purports to sue on his own behalf and on behalf of a class consisting of the Company’s stockholders (other than the defendants and their affiliates). The Company believes both these lawsuits are without merit and intends to vigorously defend itself. At this point the Company cannot estimate the contingency liabilities of this litigation.
The Company and its subsidiaries are self-insured, and they do not carry any property insurance, general liability insurance, or any other insurance that covers the risks of their business operations. As a result any material loss or damage to its properties or other assets, or personal injuries arising from its business operations would have a material adverse affect on the Company’s financial condition and operations.
If a loss should occur, or if management deems that a loss is probable, relating to our Company's product or performance of our services, an accrual for such loss or losses would be recognized at such time of occurrence or determination. The Company has not accrued for any losses as of December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009.
In August 2010, the Company entered into an investor relations consulting agreement. The agreement is for one year. The Company has the right to terminate this agreement at the six month point of the contract, with a thirty day notice. The contract stipulates a fee of $7,500 per month. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2010 the Company expensed $37,500 in consulting fees under this contract. In addition, the contract grants two separate warrants to purchase 25,000 shares for each warrant. The first warrant was granted and vested on October 1, 2010 and expires on October 2, 2012. The exercise price for this warrant was the volume weighted average price of the Company’s common stock for the period from August 1, 2010 through August 10, 2010. The second warrant, if the Company proceeds with the contract after six months, is to be granted and vested on February 10, 2011 and expires on February 10, 2013. The exercise price for this warrant will be the volume weighted average price of the Company’s common stock for the period from February 1, 2011 through February 10, 2011. The total warrants was exercised and converted into 99,583 common stock for the amount of $298,749.
Minimun Lease Commitments
The Company has two office leases, one is located in Harbin with a lease term that expires October of each year and the Company will renew the lease term annually. The other office is located in Beijing with a lease term for 18 months since December 2010.
The Company recorded an aggregate of $250,919 and $189,105 as rent expenses for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Rent expenses for the 5 years after December 31, 2010 are as follows:
16.
Operating Risk
(a) Country risk
Currently, the Company’s revenue is mainly derived from sale of educational products and services in the People’s Republic of China. The Company hopes to expand its operations in the People’s Republic of China, however, there are no assurances that the Company will be able to achieve such an expansion successfully. Therefore, a downturn or stagnation in the economic environment of the PRC could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition.
(b) Products risk
The Company competes with larger companies, who have greater funds available for expansion, marketing, research and development and the ability to attract more qualified personnel. There can be no assurance that the Company will remain competitive with larger competitors.
(c) Exchange risk
The Company cannot guarantee that the current exchange rate will remain steady, therefore there is a possibility that the Company could post the same amount of profit for two comparable periods and because of a fluctuating exchange rate actually post higher or lower profit depending on exchange rate of Chinese Renminbi (RMB) converted to U.S. dollars on that date. The exchange rate could fluctuate depending on changes in the political and economic environments without notice.
(d) Political risk
Currently, the People’s Republic of China is in a period of growth and is openly promoting business development in order to bring more business into the People’s Republic of China. Additionally, the People’s Republic of China allows a Chinese corporation to be owned by a United States corporation. If the laws or regulations are changed by the PRC government, the Company’s ability to operate in the People’s Republic of China could be affected.
(e) Key personnel risk
The Company’s future success depends on the continued services of executive management in People’s Republic of China. The loss of any of their services would be detrimental to the Company and could have an adverse effect on business development. The Company does not currently maintain key-man insurance on their lives. Future success is also dependent on the ability to identify, hire, train and retain other qualified managerial and other employees. Competition for these individuals is intense and increasing.
(f) Non-compliance with financing requirements
The Company might need to obtain future financing that require timely filing of registration statements, and have declared effective those registration statements, to register the shares being offered by the selling stockholders in future financing. The Company might be subject to liquidated damages and other penalties if they continue to obtain future financing requiring registration statements, and not having those registration statements filed and declared effective in a prompt manner.
17.
Subsequent Events
The Company evaluates subsequent events for purposes of recognition or disclosure up through the date the financial statements are issued.
On March 21, 2011, China Education Alliance, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into an agreement (the “Agreement”) with Nanchang Institute of Technology (“NIT”), a vocational training institution based in Nanchang, People’s Republic of China. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company and NIT will jointly establish Nanchang Institute of Technology College of Vocational Training and Certification (the “College”). NIT will provide facilities for free and the Company will provide teachers, curriculums and certificates of trainings and pay all the expenses incurred in the teaching process. In return, NIT and the Company will receive 20% and 80% of the total revenue of the College, respectively. The College commenced operations, under the control of the Company on March 21, 2011.
On March 14, 2011, China Education Alliance, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a Share Transfer Agreement (the “Agreement”) with the shareholder (the “Shareholder”) of Harbin Tianlang Culture and Education School (“Tianlang”), a tutoring school with 5,000 current students, based in Harbin, People’s Republic of China.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company agreed to purchase 60% of the equity interests of Tianlang for RMB 35 million (approximately $5.3 million). The Shareholder and the Company also agreed to provide RMB 2 million (approximately $0.3 million) and RMB 3 million (approximately 0.5 million) as working capital for Tianlang, respectively. The purchase price shall be paid as follows: RMB 1,000,000 (approximately $0.2 million) to be paid within three business days after the execution of the Agreement, RMB 6,550,000 (approximately $1 million) to be paid within two business days after completion of due diligence and the remaining purchase price to be paid upon completion of relevant procedures to effect the share transfer. In addition, after the execution of the Agreement, Tianlong shall establish a new board of directors with five directors, of which three directors shall be appointed by the Company and two directors shall be appointed by the Shareholder.
18.
Statutory Reserves
The Company is required to make appropriations to reserve funds, comprising the statutory surplus reserve, statutory public welfare fund and discretionary surplus reserve, based on after-tax net income determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles of the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC GAAP”). Appropriation to the statutory surplus reserve should be at least 10% of the after tax net income determined in accordance with the PRC GAAP until the reserve is equal to 50% of the entities’ registered capital or members’ equity. Appropriations to the statutory public welfare fund are at a minimum of 5% of the after tax net income determined in accordance with PRC GAAP. Commencing on January 1, 2006, the new PRC regulations waived the requirement for appropriating retained earnings to the statutory public welfare fund. The public welfare fund no longer requires the Company to contribute, but the Company can’t dissolve it. As of December 31, 2007, the Company appropriated 50% of its registered capital to statutory reserve for Heilongjian Zhonghe Education Training Center, and has not contributed additional funds to this subsidiary statutory surplus reserve, as they are in compliance with all applicable PRC rules. The Company’s other subsidiary has not reached their maximum contribution required for their statutory reserve; accordingly contributions were made for the year ended December 31, 2010. For the year ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, statutory reserves activity is as follows:
19.
Income Taxes
On September 15, 2004, the Company executed a Plan of Exchange with ZHLD, subsequently ZHLD applied to be classified as a foreign invested company immediately after the merger, and a business license was approved for such qualification on April 8, 2005. According to PRC taxation policy, there is a 100% income tax exemption or holiday for the initial 2 years after obtaining the exemption and a 50% tax exemption or holiday for the 3 years subsequent to the initial 2 years applicable to a foreign invested company, advanced technology company or software development company. Because ZHLD falls within these categories, it enjoys this income tax exemption or holiday from April 8, 2005, the date it obtained approval as a wholly owned foreign enterprise. The Company received a 100% tax holiday for the year ended December 31, 2006, and then 50% reduction of the prevailing tax rate until the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009, subject to changes in tax rates implemented in 2007 that go into effect commencing January 1, 2008 which will have the effect of increasing the enterprise tax rate by 2% per year until it reaches and effective tax rate of 25%. For the years ended December 31, 2008, ZHLD’s effective income tax rate was at 7.5%, based on having received a 50% exemption in the year ended December 31, 2007 when the prevailing effective tax rate was 30%, and an additional 50% exemption as ZHLD was a technology and software entity. During the year ended December 31, 2009, ZHLD obtained similar exemptions to those of the year ended December 31, 2008; however, the prevailing tax rate had a minimum threshold of 10% for the year ended December 31, 2009. During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company was assessed an additional PRC enterprise income tax, above their effective rate, due to tax regulations implemented by the PRC in the year ended December 31, 2009 relating to a prior period. ZHLD management, expects ZHLD to continue being qualified as a technology and software entity, and expects to receive a 50% reduction in their statutory PRC enterprise income tax rates. The ZHLD’s enterprise tax for the year ended December 31, 2010 is 15%. The Company’s ZETC subsidiary is currently exempt from PRC taxation, as it operates a business enterprise engaged in educational opportunities. The Company’s other subsidiaries; BHYHZ, ZHLDBJ, and New Shifan are taxed at the PRC statutory rate (25%), and have not accrued for taxes since inception, due to recurring losses incurred since inception.
The components of income (loss) before income tax consist of approximately following:
The table below approximately summarizes the reconciliation of the Company’s income tax provision computed at the statutory U.S. Federal rate and the actual tax provision:
The Company has a U.S net operating loss carryforward of approximately $3,100,000 as of December 31, 2010 which will expire through 2030. Under IRC section 382, certain of these loss carryforward amounts may be limited due to the more than 50% change in ownerhip which took place during 2005. The deferred tax asset of approximately $1,225,000 associated with these net operating loss carryforwards was fully reserved as of December 31, 2010.
Had the above noted tax exemption not been in place for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, the Company estimates the following proforma financial statement impact.
Item 9.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The Company maintains a set of disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by the SEC's rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that this information is accumulated and communicated to the Company's management, including the Company's chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act, the Company carried out an evaluation with the participation of the Company’s management, including Xiqun Yu, the Company’s chief executive officer, and Zibing Pan, the Company’s ex-chief financial officer, of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010. Based upon that evaluation, the Company’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that the Company files or submits under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Our chief executive officer and chief financial officer also concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports required to be filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The Company’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over our financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act. The Company’s management is also required to assess and report on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Section 404”). Internal control over financial reporting is a process to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of the Company’s financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Internal control over financial reporting includes policies and procedures that: (i) pertain to maintaining records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the Company’s transactions; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary for preparation of the Company’s financial statements and that receipts and expenditures of company assets are made in accordance with management authorization; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance that unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of company assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements would be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies and procedures may deteriorate.
The Company’s management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010. In making this assessment, it used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework. This evaluation was conducted by Xiqun Yu, the Company’s chief executive officer, and Alice Lee Rogers_the Company’s chief financial officer. Based on its assessment, the Company’s management believes that, as of December 31, 2010, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting is effective based on those criteria.
This annual report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s registered accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. The management’s report was not subject to attestation by the Company’s registered public accounting firm pursuant to temporary rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
No changes in the Company's internal control over financial reporting have come to management's attention during the Company's last fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting.
Limitations on Controls
Management does not expect that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures or the Company's internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all error and fraud. Any control system, no matter how well designed and operated, is based upon certain assumptions and can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that its objectives will be met. Further, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. The Company's disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and the Company's chief executive officer and chief financial officer have concluded that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures are effective at that reasonable assurance level.
Item 9B.
Item 9B.
Other Information.
None.
PART III
Item 10.
Item 10.
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
The following are our officers and directors as of the date of this annual report. Most of our officers and directors are residents of the PRC and, therefore, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the U.S. upon them or to enforce judgments against them obtained from the U.S. courts.
The following table sets forth certain information concerning our directors and executive officers:
1 Member of the audit committee.
2 Member of the compensation committee.
3 Member of the nominating committee
Mr. Xiqun Yu has been our chairman and chief executive officer since the organization of our subsidiaries in 2001. He has more than 18 years of experience in senior management with several Northern PRC-based enterprises. He was responsible for marketing, strategic planning and designing for many of these corporations. Mr. Yu previously served as the chief executive officer of RETONG.COM, and chairman of Harbin Zhonghelida Technology Corporation, Heilongjiang Retong Advertising Co., Ltd. and Heilongjiang Wantong Telecommunication Project Co., Ltd. Mr. Yu is a member of the Council of China Harbin Advertising Association and is a Director of the China Internet Network Association. Mr. Yu received a degree in Business Administration from the Harbin University of Science and Technology in 1989.
Ms. Alice Lee Rogers was appointed our Chief Financial Officer on March 1, 2011. Ms. Rogers is a Certified Public Accountant and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and California Society of CPAs. Ms. Rogers has more than ten years of professional accounting and auditing experience with public accountant firms including recent experience with SEC audits and reviews of financial disclosures. Ms. Rogers is also the founder of Lee-Rogers & Company, Inc. and has been its President since 2007. From June 2009 to May 2010, Ms. Rogers worked as vice president of finance for Dragon Acquisition Corporation. Prior to that Ms. Rogers worked as an account manager at Kabani & Company Inc., from February 2005 to June 2007, and as a senior accountant at Koo, Chow & Company LLP from June 2000 to December 2004. Ms. Rogers graduated with a BA in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge.
Mr. James Hsu has been a director since October 2007. Mr. Hsu has been the president of Global Education Initiatives, Inc., a company which has developed higher education collaboration programs between the U.S., Taiwan and the PRC since 1997. He has also been the chief executive officer of Greater New York Home Care Systems, Inc., a company which provides infusion and other health care services to patients in their homes, since 1998. He is a founder of HeritageEast, a company which promotes cultural exchange between the U.S. and the PRC, and YYnet Communications, a company which specializes in information system services. He received a B.A. in Economics from Taiwan University, M.A in Management Science from Yale University and Ph.D. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Lianzheng Zhang has been a director since October 2007. Since July 1990, Mr. Zhang has served as Pluralism Director at the Heilongjiang provincial Base of Research and Experiment in Polymer Science & Technology. Mr. Zhang has also been appointed as a People’s Representative during the 9th (1998) and 10th (2003) National People’s Congress of the PRC for his extraordinary achievement in Polymer Science and Technology. Mr. Zhang received a Bachelor’s Degree in Organic Chemistry from the Heilongjiang University and Master’s Degree in Polymer Chemistry at the Jillin University. Mr. Zhang was also a visiting scholar at the University of Bradford.
Mr. Yizhao Zhang was the chief financial officer of Universal Travel Group (NYSE: UTA) until August 16, 2010. He is also an independent director of China Green Agriculture Inc. (NYSE: CGA), Kaisa Holdings Group (HK: 1638) and China Carbon Graphite, Inc. (OTC BB: CHGI), respectively. Mr. Zhang has over 13 years of experience in accounting and internal control, corporate finance, and portfolio management. Previously, Mr. Zhang held senior positions in Energoup Holdings Corporation (OTC BB: ENHD), Shengtai Pharmaceutical Inc. (OTC BB: SGTI), China Natural Resources Incorporation (NASDAQ CM: CHNR) and Chinawe Asset Management Corporation (OTC BB: CHWE). From 1993 to 1999 Mr. Zhang also had experiences in portfolio management and asset trading in Guangdong South Financial Services Corporation. Mr. Zhang is a certified public accountant of the state of Delaware, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Mr. Zhang graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Fudan University, Shanghai in 1992 and received an MBA degree with financial analysis and accounting concentrations from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2003.
The Directors initially elected in Class I, James Hsu, Liansheng Zhang and Yizhao Zhang, who will serve until the annual meeting of stockholders in 2011 and until their respective successors have been elected and have qualified, or until their earlier resignation, removal or death. The Directors initially elected in Class II, Zibing Pan and Xiqun Yu, will serve until the annual meeting of stockholders in 2012 and until their respective successors have been elected and have qualified, or until their earlier resignation, removal or death. Beginning with the election of Directors to be held at the year 2011 annual meeting, each class of Directors will be elected for a two-year term. If for some unforeseen reason one or more of the nominees is not available as a candidate for Director, the Proxies may be voted for such other candidate or candidates as may be nominated by the Board.
Director Qualifications
Directors are responsible for overseeing the Company’s business consistent with their fiduciary duty to stockholders. This significant responsibility requires highly-skilled individuals with various qualities, attributes and professional experience. The board believes that there are general requirements for service on the Company’s board of directors that are applicable to all directors and that there are other skills and experience that should be represented on the board as a whole but not necessarily by each director. The board and the Nominating Committee consider the qualifications of director and director candidates individually and in the broader context of the board’s overall composition and the Company’s current and future needs.
Qualifications for All Directors
In its assessment of each potential candidate, including those recommended by stockholders, the Nominating Committee considers the nominee’s judgment, integrity, experience, independence, understanding of the Company’s business or other related industries and such other factors the Nominating Committee determines are pertinent in light of the current needs of the board. The Nominating Committee also takes into account the ability of a director to devote the time and effort necessary to fulfill his or her responsibilities to the Company.
The board and the Nominating Committee require that each director be a recognized person of high integrity with a proven record of success in his or her field. Each director must demonstrate innovative thinking, familiarity with and respect for corporate governance requirements and practices, an appreciation of multiple cultures and a commitment to sustainability and to dealing responsibly with social issues. In addition to the qualifications required of all directors, the Board conducts interviews of potential director candidates to assess intangible qualities including the individual’s ability to ask difficult questions and, simultaneously, to work collegially. The board does not have a specific diversity policy, but considers diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, age, cultural background and professional experiences in evaluating candidates for board membership. Diversity is important because a variety of points of view contribute to a more effective decision-making process.
Qualifications, Attributes, Skills and Experience to be Represented on the Board as a Whole
The board has identified particular qualifications, attributes, skills and experience that are important to be represented on the board as a whole, in light of the Company’s current needs and its business priorities. The board believes that it should include some directors with a high level of financial literacy and some directors who possess relevant business experience as a Chief Executive Officer or a President or like position. Marketing is the core focus of our business and the Company seeks to develop and deploy the world’s most innovative and effective marketing and technology. Therefore, the board believes that marketing and technology experience should be represented on the board. The Company is involved in the education business in the PRC. Therefore the Company’s business also requires compliance with a variety of regulatory requirements and relationships with various governmental entities. Therefore, the board believes that governmental, political or diplomatic expertise should be represented on the Board.
Set forth below are a chart and a narrative disclosure that summarize the specific qualifications, attributes, skills and experiences described above. An “X” in the chart below indicates that the item is a specific reason that the director has been nominated to serve on the Company’s Board. The lack of an “X” for a particular qualification does not mean that the director does not possess that qualification or skill. Rather, an “X” indicates a specific area of focus or expertise of a director on which the board currently relies.
Xiqun Yu
Extensive knowledge of Company’s business - Mr. Yu has been our chairman and Chief Executive Officer since the organization of our subsidiaries in 2001.
Governmental, political or diplomatic expertise - He is a founder of HeritageEast, a company which promotes cultural exchange between the U.S. and the PRC.
Marketing/Marketing related technology experience - Mr. Hsu is a founder of YYnet Communications, a company which specializes in information system services.
Relevant Chief Executive/President or like experience - Mr. Hsu has been the chief executive officer of Greater New York Home Care Systems, Inc., a company which provides infusion and other health care services to patients in their homes, since 1998 and the founder of both HeritageEast and YYnet Communications.
Liansheng Zhang
Governmental, political or diplomatic expertise - Mr. Zhang also been appointed as a People’s Representative during the 9th (1998) and 10th (2003) National People’s Congress of the PRCfor his extraordinary achievement in Polymer Science and Technology.
Yizhao Zhang
High level of financial literacy - Mr. Zhang has over 13 years of experience in accounting and internal control, corporate finance, and portfolio management. From 1993 to 1999 Mr. Zhang had experiences in portfolio management and asset trading in Guangdong South Financial Services Corporation. He is a certified public accountant of the state of Delaware, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Mr. Zhang graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Fudan University, Shanghai in 1992 and received an MBA degree with financial analysis and accounting concentrations from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2003.
Relevant Chief Executive/President or like experience - Mr. Zhang is an independent director of China Green Agriculture Inc. (NYSE: CGA), Kaisa Holdings Group (HK: 1638) and China Carbon Graphite, Inc. (OTC BB: CHGI), respectively. Mr. Zhang was the chief financial officer of Universal Travel Group (NYSE: UTA) until August 16, 2010. Previously, Mr. Zhang held senior positions in Energoup Holdings Corporation (OTC BB: ENHD), Shengtai Pharmaceutical Inc. (OTC BB: SGTI), China Natural Resources Incorporation (NASDAQ CM: CHNR) and Chinawe Asset Management Corporation (OTC BB: CHWE).
Marketing/Marketing related technology experience - He has more than 18 years of experience in senior management with several Northern PRC-based enterprises and was responsible for marketing, strategic planning and designing for many of these corporations.
Relevant Chief Executive/President or like experience - Apart from being our chairman and Chief Executive Officer since the organization of our subsidiaries in 2001, Mr. Yu previously served as the chief executive officer of RETONG.COM, and chairman of Harbin Zhonghelida Technology Corporation, Heilongjiang Retong Advertising Co., Ltd. and Heilongjiang Wantong Telecommunication Project Co., Ltd.
Governmental, political or diplomatic expertise - Mr. Yu is a member of the Council of China Harbin Advertising Association and is a Director of the China Internet Network Association.
Alice Lee Rogers
High level of financial literacy - Ms. Rogers is a Certified Public Accountant and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and California Society of CPAs. Ms. Rogers has more than ten years of professional accounting and auditing experience with public accountant firms including recent experience with SEC audits and reviews of financial disclosures. Ms. Rogers is also the founder of Lee-Rogers & Company, Inc. and has been its President since 2007. From June 2009 to May 2010, Ms. Rogers worked as vice president of finance for Dragon Acquisition Corporation. Prior to that Ms. Rogers worked as an account manager at Kabani & Company Inc., from February 2005 to June 2007, and as a senior accountant at Koo, Chow & Company LLP from June 2000 to December 2004. Ms. Rogers graduated with a BA in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge.
James Hsu
Extensive knowledge of the Company’s business - Since 1997, Mr. Hsu has been the president of Global Education Initiatives, Inc., a company which develops higher education collaboration programs between the U.S., Taiwan and the PRC.
Save as otherwise reported above, none of our directors hold directorships in other reporting companies.
There are no family relationships among our directors or officers.
To our knowledge, during the last ten years, none of our directors and executive officers (including those of our subsidiaries) has:
·
Had a bankruptcy petition filed by or against any business of which such person was a general partner or executive officer either at the time of the bankruptcy or within two years prior to that time.
·
Been convicted in a criminal proceeding or been subject to a pending criminal proceeding, excluding traffic violations and other minor offenses.
·
Been subject to any order, judgment or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any court of competent jurisdiction, permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting his involvement in any type of business, securities or banking activities.
·
Been found by a court of competent jurisdiction (in a civil action), the SEC, or the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law, and the judgment has not been reversed, suspended or vacated.
·
Been the subject to, or a party to, any sanction or order, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any self-regulatory organization, any registered entity, or any equivalent exchange, association, entity or organization that has disciplinary authority over its members or persons associated with a member.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three committees, the audit committee, the compensation committee and the nominating committee. The audit committee and compensation committee were established in October 2007, and the nominating committee was establish in October 2007. Prior to October 2007, our entire board of directors acted as the audit and compensation committee for the purpose of overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes, and audits of our financial statements.
The members of the audit committee are Yizhao Zhang (Chairman), James Hsu and Liansheng Zhang. The members of the compensation committee are Liansheng Zhang (Chairman), Yizhao Zhang and James Hsu. The nominating committee similarly comprises of Liansheng Zhang (Chairman), Yizhao Zhang and James Hsu.
Audit Committee and Audit Committee Financial Expert
Our board of directors established an audit committee in October 2007. The audit committee is responsible for (i) recommending independent accountants to the Board, (ii) reviewing our financial statements with management and the independent accountants, (iii) making an appraisal of our audit effort and the effectiveness of our financial policies and practices and (iv) consulting with management and our independent accountants with regard to the adequacy of internal accounting controls. Our audit committee members are YizhaoZhang (Chairman), James Hsu and Liansheng Zhang.
Our board of directors has determined that it has an "audit committee financial expert" as defined by Item 401(h) of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our audit committee financial expert is Yizhao Zhang. The directors who serve on the audit committee are "independent" directors based on the definition of independence in the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange. Our Board of Directors has adopted a written charter for the Audit Committee. The Charter is available on our website at http://www.chinaeducationalliance.com/Governance.jsp.
Compensation Committee
Our board of directors established a compensation committee in October 2007.
The compensation committee of the board of directors is responsible for (i) determining the general compensation policies, (ii) establishing compensation plans, (iii) determining senior management compensation and (iv) administering our stock option plans. The members of the compensation committee currently are Liansheng Zhang (Chairman), Yizhao Zhang and James Hsu. The members of our compensation committee or their affiliates did not provide additional service to the Company or its affiliates in an amount in excess of $120,000 during the Company’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.
Our board of directors has adopted a written compensation committee charter. The charter is available on our website at http://www.chinaeducationalliance.com/Governance.jsp. The directors who serve on the compensation committee are "independent" directors based on the definition of independence in the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange.
Nominating Committee
Our board of directors established a nominating committee in June 2009.
The purpose of the nominating committee of the board of directors is to assist the board of directors in identifying and recruiting qualified individuals to become board members and select director nominees to be presented for board and/or stockholder approval. The nominating committee will be involved in evaluating the desirability of and recommendation to the board of any changes in the size and composition of the board, and evaluation of and successor planning for the chief executive officer and other executive officers. The qualifications of any candidate for director will be subject to the same extensive general and specific criteria applicable to director candidates generally. The members of the nominating committee currently are Liansheng Zhang (Chairman), Yizhao Zhang and James Hsu.
The directors who serve on the nominating committee are "independent" directors based on the definition of independence in the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange. The nominating committee has a written charter. The charter is available on our website at http://www.chinaeducationalliance.com/Governance.jsp. The nominating committee will consider qualified director candidates recommended by stockholders if such recommendations for director are submitted in writing to our Secretary at 58 Heng Shan Road, Kun Lun Shopping Mall, Harbin, The People’s Republic of China 150090, provided such recommendation has been made in accordance with the relevant by-laws.
At this time, no additional specific procedures to propose a candidate for consideration by the nominating committee, nor any minimum criteria for consideration of a proposed nomination to the board, have been adopted.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics to apply to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer and controller, or persons performing similar functions. The Code of Ethics is currently available on our website.
The board and its committees held the following number of meetings during the fiscal year of 2010
Board of Directors
Audit Committee
Compensation Committee
Nominating Committee
The meetings include meetings that were held by means of a conference telephone call, but do not include actions taken by unanimous written consent, which amounted to one such action.
Each director attended at least 75% of the total number of meetings of the board and those committees on which he served during the year.
Our non-management directors did not meet in executive session during 2010.
Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight
Xiqun Yu is our chairman and chief executive officer. We have three independent directors. Our lead independent director is Yizhao Zhang. Our Board has three standing committees, each of which is comprised solely of independent directors with a committee chair. The Board believes that the Company’s chief executive officer is best situated to serve as Chairman of the Board because he is the director most familiar with our business and industry and the director most capable of identifying strategic priorities and executing our business strategy. In addition, having a single leader eliminates the potential for confusion and provides clear leadership for the Company. We believe that this leadership structure has served the Company well.
Our Board of Directors has overall responsibility for risk oversight. The Board has delegated responsibility for the oversight of specific risks to Board committees as follows:
·
The Audit Committee oversees the Company’s risk policies and processes relating to the financial statements and financial reporting processes, as well as key credit risks, liquidity risks, market risks and compliance, and the guidelines, policies and processes for monitoring and mitigating those risks.
·
The Nominating Committee oversees risks related to the company’s governance structure and processes.
Our Board of Directors is responsible to approve all related party transactions according to our Code of Ethics. We have not adopted written policies and procedures specifically for related person transactions.
Limitations on Liability
Article VIII of our Bylaws limits the liability of our directors, officers and employees to the fullest extent permitted by North Carolina law. Consequently, our directors and officers may not be personally liable for monetary damages regarding their duties as directors.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers and directors and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file with the SEC initial statements of beneficial ownership, reports of changes in ownership and annual reports concerning their ownership of our common stock and other equity securities, on Form 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Executive officers, directors and greater than 10% shareholders are required by the SEC regulations to furnish our company with copies of all Section 16(a) reports they file.
Based solely on our review of the copies of such reports received by us and on written representations by our officers and directors regarding their compliance with the applicable reporting requirements under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, we believe that, with respect to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, our officers and directors, and all of the persons known to us to own more than 10% of our common stock, filed all required reports on a timely basis.
Item 11.
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
The following table sets forth information with respect to the compensation of each of the named executive officers for services provided in all capacities to China Education Alliance, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 in their capacity as such officers. Mr. Xiqun Yu, our chief executive officer and also one of our directors, receives no additional compensation for his services in his capacity as director. No other executive officer or former executive officer received more than $100,000 in compensation in the fiscal years reported below.
(1) This option to purchase 300,000 shares of common stock was issued pursuant to China Education Alliance, Inc.'s 2009 Incentive Stock Plan and an Incentive Stock Option Agreement dated as of June 18, 2009. The option shall become exercisable during the term of Mr. Yu’s employment in three (3) equal annual installments of 100,000 shares of common stock each, the first installment to be exercisable on June 18, 2009, with additional installments becoming exercisable on each of the first and second anniversaries thereof. There are no other notable conditions to exercisability, tandem feature, reload feature, tax-reimbursement feature, and any provision that could cause the exercise price to be lowered.
(2) Mr. Zibing Pan joined us as our Chief Financial Officer on August 20, 2009. On September 24, 2009, he was granted an option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock of Company annually at an exercise price of $5.59, which option shall vest in one-third installments over three years, the first installment to be exercisable on September 24, 2009 (the "Initial Vesting Date"), with additional installments becoming exercisable on each of the first and second anniversaries following the Initial Vesting Date. There are no other notable conditions to exercisability, tandem feature, reload feature, tax-reimbursement feature, and any provision that could cause the exercise price to be lowered. Mr. Pan resiged as our Chief Financial Officer and Director on February 28, 2011 and his resignation became effective March 1, 2011.
(3) Ms. Susan Liu joined us as our Chief Financial Officer on June 2, 2008 and resigned on August 20, 2009.
The dollar amount set forth in the summary compensation table with respect to the option awards reflects the aggregate grant date fair value of the option awards computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. For all assumptions made in the valuation refer to footnote 16 “Warrants and Options” in the Company’s footnotes to the financial statements.
Outstanding Equity Awards at 2010 Fiscal Year End
As of December 31, 2010, no options were exercised, and options to purchase 438,666 shares of the Company’s common stock were outstanding.
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End December 31, 2010
Option/Stock awards
Employment Agreements
We do not currently provide any contingent or deferred forms of compensation arrangements, annuities, or retirement benefits to our executive officers or directors. We had entered into an employment agreement with our Chief Executive Officer, which terminated on August 9, 2009. The employment agreement has since been extended an additional three years until August 9, 2012. Under the terms of the employment agreement, our Chief Executive Officer is paid $22,900 per annum. Pursuant to the employment agreements, the executives are also entitled to a working clothes subsidiary, insurance, medical benefits, unemployment insurance and other benefits pursuant to our standard policies.
On June 2, 2008, we appointed Susan Liu as our Chief Financial Officer pursuant to an employment agreement dated June 2, 2008. Ms. Liu’s compensation as our Chief Financial Officer is set forth in an employment agreement between Ms. Liu and us dated June 2, 2008. Under that agreement, Ms. Liu was to receive compensation consisting of the following: (i) a monthly salary of CA$6,000, (ii) an annual bonus equivalent to one month’s salary, payable in December of each year, based on the monthly salary in effect on November 30 of that year, (iii) such benefits as are available to our other employees, and (iv) options to purchase a total of 10,000 shares of our common stock, such options to vest monthly in equal installments commencing from June 2, 2008 through June 1, 2009. Susan Liu resigned on August 20, 2009.
On August 20, 2009, we appointed Zibing Pan as our new Chief Financial Officer pursuant to an employment agreement between Mr. Pan and us dated August 20, 2009. Under that agreement, Mr. Pan was to receive an annual salary of $100,000, and an additional $300 per month towards the payment of his medical, health and dental benefits, disability, accident and life insurance. Additionally, Mr. Pan will be granted an option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock of Company annually at an exercise price equivalent to the closing price per share of common stock on the date of the grant, which option shall vest in one-third installments over three years. As an incentive to Mr. Pan, on completion of two full years of service to the Company, the Company shall award him an additional option to purchase 40,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price equivalent to the closing price per share of common stock on the date of the grant, which option shall vest in one-third installments over three years.
On March 1, 2011, we appointed Alice Lee Rogers as our new Chief Financial Officer pursuant to an employment agreement between Ms. Rogers and us dated March 1, 2011. Pursuant to the agreement, Ms. Rogers is to receive an annual salary of $100,000. Additionally, Ms. Rogers will be granted an option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock of the Company each year for the first two years, and an option to purchase 40,000 shares of common stock of the Company for the third year, at an exercise price equivalent to the closing price per share of common stock on the date of employment, provided Ms. Rogers is still Chief Financial Officer of the Company or otherwise engaged by the Company at the time of exercise. The options shall vest in one-third installments over three years.
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
We strive to provide our named executive officers (as defined in Item 402 of Regulation S-K) with a competitive base salary that is in line with their roles and responsibilities when compared to peer companies of comparable size in similar locations.
It is not uncommon for PRC private companies in the PRC to have base salaries as the sole form of compensation. The base salary level is established and reviewed based on the level of responsibilities, the experience and tenure of the individual and the current and potential contributions of the individual. The base salary is compared to the list of similar positions within comparable peer companies and consideration is given to the executive’s relative experience in his or her position. Base salaries are reviewed periodically and at the time of promotion or other changes in responsibilities.
We plan to implement a more comprehensive compensation program, which takes into account other elements of compensation, including, without limitation, short and long term compensation, cash and non-cash, and other equity-based compensation such as stock options. We expect that this compensation program will be comparable to the programs of our peer companies and aimed to retain and attract talented individuals.
Board Compensation
On June 17, 2009, the Board of Directors of the Company appointed Mr. Yizhao Zhang as independent director of the Company. Mr. Zhang’s compensation as director of the Company is set forth in an appointment letter with the Company dated June 17, 2009. He will be paid a monthly fee of $1,000. He will also be granted options to purchase a total of 30,000 shares of common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per year of service at a price to be determined by the Compensation Committee and the Board of Directors. The first set of options shall vest on the first anniversary of its grant and may be exercised until three years from the date of grant provided that Mr. Zhang is still a director of or otherwise engaged by the Company at the date of vesting.
On June 18, 2009, the Company granted Liansheng Zhang 10,000 shares of common stock of the Company. This option was issued pursuant to the Company's 2009 Incentive Stock Plan and an Incentive Stock Option Agreement dated as of June 18, 2009. The option shall become exercisable during the term of the Liansheng Zhang's employment in three equal annual installments of 3,333 shares of common stock each (save for the last installment of 3,334 shares), the first installment to be exercisable on the date of this option (the "Initial Vesting Date"), with additional installments becoming exercisable on each of the first and second anniversaries following the Initial Vesting Date. Mr. Zhang also received $5,000 in fees in fiscal year 2009.
On November 15, 2009, James Hsu was granted an option by the Company pursuant to the Company's 2009 Incentive Stock Option Plan and an Incentive Stock Option Agreement dated as of November 15, 2009. The option shall become vested and exercisable as of November 15,2009 to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock at the exercise price of $5.40 per share during the term of Mr. Hsu’s employment with the Company and shall expire one year from November 15, 2009. Mr. Hsu also received $10,000 in fees in fiscal year 2009.
The following table sets forth the compensation received by our directors in fiscal year 2010 in their capacity as directors:
Item 12.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our voting securities by (i) any person or group owning more than 5% of any class of voting securities, (ii) each director, (iii) our chief executive officer and (iv) all executive officers and directors as a group as of April 15, 2011.
*Represents less than 1%
(1)
In determining beneficial ownership of our common stock as of a given date, the number of shares shown includes shares of common stock which may be acquired on exercise of warrants or options or conversion of convertible securities within 60 days of that date. In determining the percent of common stock owned by a person or entity on April 15, 2011, (a) the numerator is the number of shares of the class beneficially owned by such person or entity, including shares which may be acquired within 60 days on exercise of warrants or options and conversion of convertible securities, and (b) the denominator is the sum of (i) the total shares of common stock outstanding on April 15, 2011 (31,727,249), and (ii) the total number of shares that the beneficial owner may acquire upon conversion of the preferred and on exercise of the warrants and options. Unless otherwise stated, each beneficial owner has sole power to vote and dispose of its shares.
(2)
Clients for whom Zesiger Capital Group LLC (“ZCG”) acts as investment adviser may withdraw dividends or the proceeds of sales from the accounts managed by ZCG. No single client account owns more than 5% of the class of securities.
(3)
The shares beneficially owned by Xiqun Yu include (a) 12,683,335 shares of common stock directly owned by Xiqun Yu, and (b) an option granted by the Company on June 18, 2009, to purchase 300,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in three equal installments, the first being vested on the date of the grant, and additional installments being vested on the first and second anniversaries of the date of the grant.
(4)
On March 1, 2011, we appointed Alice Lee Rogers as our new Chief Financial Officer pursuant to an employment agreement between Ms. Rogers and us dated March 1, 2011. Pursuant to the agreement, Ms. Rogers will be granted an option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock of the Company each year for the first two years, and an option to purchase 40,000 shares of common stock of the Company for the third year, at an exercise price equivalent to the closing price per share of common stock on the date of employment, provided Ms. Rogers is still Chief Financial Officer of the Company or otherwise engaged by the Company at the time of exercise. The options shall vest in one-third installments over three years.
(5)
James Hsu was granted an option by the Company pursuant to the Company's 2009 Incentive Stock Option Plan and an Incentive Stock Option Agreement dated as of November 15, 2009. The option shall become vested and exercisable as of November 15, 2009 to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock at the exercise price of $5.40 per share during the term of the James Hsu’s employment with the Company. The option expired one year from November 15, 2009.
(6)
Liansheng Zhang was granted an option to purchase 10,000 shares of the common stock of the Company on June 18, 2009. The option shall become exercisable during the term of the Liansheng Zhang's employment in three equal annual installments of 3,333 shares of common stock each (save for the last installment of 3,334 shares), the first installment to be exercisable on the date of this option, with additional installments becoming exercisable on each of the first and second anniversaries following the date of the option.
(7)
Yizhao Zhang was granted an option to purchase 30,000 shares of the common stock of the Company pursuant to the 2009 Incentive Stock Plan on June 18, 2009. The option shall vest on the first anniversary of the date of the grant and may be exercised until three years from the date of the grant of the option.
Item 13.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
Related Party Transactions
There were no related party transactions in fiscal year 2010.
Independent Directors
Our Board of Directors is currently comprised of a majority of independent directors, as such term is defined by the rules of the New York Stock Exchange, and such independent directors are Yizhao Zhang, James Hsu, and Liansheng Zhang.
Item 14.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
We were billed by Sherb & Co., LLP, an independent public accounting firm, for the following professional services they performed for us during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 as set forth in the table below.
PART IV
Item 15.
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
Exhibit
No.
Description
3.1
Articles of Incorporation filed December 2, 1996 in the State of North Carolina are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Form SB-2 Registration Statement of China Education Alliance, Inc. (File No. 333-101167) filed on November 13, 2002.
3.2
Articles of Amendment Business Corporation dated May 23, 2002 are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Form SB-2 Registration Statement of China Education Alliance, Inc. (File No. 333-101167) filed on November 13, 2002.
3.3
Articles of Amendment Business Corporation filed November 17, 2004, changing the name of the Company from ABC Realty Co. to China Education Alliance, Inc. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.3 filed with the Company’s Form 10-KSB annual report for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2005.
3.4
Articles of Share Exchange of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the Department of The Secretary of State of the State of North Carolina on December 30, 2004 are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.1 filed with China Education Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-QSB quarterly report for its quarter ended September 30, 2007 filed with the SEC on November 14, 2007.
3.5
Articles of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation filed with the Department of The Secretary of State of the State of North Carolina on October 4, 2007 are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.2 filed with China Education Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-QSB quarterly report for its quarter ended September 30, 2007 filed with the SEC on November 14, 2007.
3.6
ByLaws of China Education Alliance, Inc. are incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Form SB-2/A Registration Statement of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed on February 7, 2003 (File No. 333-101167).
10.1
Stock Transaction Agreement between and among China Education Alliance, Inc. and the former owners of Harbin Zhonghelida Educational Technology Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of China Education Alliance, Inc. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to China Education Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2005 filed with the SEC on April 17, 2006.
10.2
Organization Constitution of Heilongjiang Zhonge Education Training Center dated June 15, 2005, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to China Education Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2005 filed with the SEC on April 17, 2006.
10.3
Business licenses of Harbin Zhonghelinda Educational Technology Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Education Alliance, Inc. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to China Education Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2005 and filed with the SEC on April 17, 2006.
10.4
Product Commission Process Contract dated March 2, 2006, with Tianjin Huishi Printing Products Co., Ltd. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to China Education Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005 filed with the SEC on April 17, 2006.
10.5
Consulting Agreement with Conceptual Management Limited dated March 20, 2006 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.8 to China Education Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005 filed with the SEC on April 17, 2006.
10.6
Form of Secured Promissory Note dated September 29, 2006, by China Education Alliance, Inc. is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Form 8-K current report of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on November 1, 2006.
10.7
Stock Pledge Agreement dated September 29, 2006, between Xiqun Yu and SBI Advisors, LLC, as Agent is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Form 8-K current report of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on November 1, 2006.
10.8
Guarantee Agreement dated as of September 29, 2006, among Harbin Zhong He Li Da Jiao Yu KeJi You Xian Gong Si, Heilongjiang Zhonghe Education Training Center, Harbin Zhonghelida Educational Technology Company Limited, Xinqun Yu, and SBI Advisors, LLC, as Agent is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Form 8-K current report of China Education Alliance, Inc.filed with the SEC on November 1, 2006.
10.9
Investor Relations Agreement dated November 1, 2006, between China Education Alliance, Inc. and Taylor Rafferty Associates, Inc. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Form 10-QSB quarterly report of the Company for the period ended June 30, 2006.
10.10
Purchase Contract dated December 28, 2006, between Harbin Zhonghelida Education &Technology Co., Ltd. and Harbin Nangang Compass Computer Training School is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.11 to China Education Alliance, Inc.’s Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 filed with the SEC on April 2, 2007.
10.11
Securities Purchase Agreement dated as of May 8, 2007, among China Education Alliance, Inc., Barron Partners, LP and the other investors named therein is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on May 15, 2007.
10.12
3% Convertible Note issued to Barron Partners, LP is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.2 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on May 15, 2007
10.13
3% Convertible Note issued to Eos Holdings is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.3 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on May 15, 2007.
10.14
3% Convertible Note issued to Hua-Mei 21st Century Partners, LP is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.4 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on May 15, 2007.
10.15
Registration Rights Agreement, dated May 8, 2007, among China Education Alliance, Inc. , Barron Partners, LP and the other investors named therein is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.5 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on May 15, 2007.
10.16
Closing Escrow Agreement, dated May 8, 2007, among China Education Alliance, Inc. , Barron Partners, LP, the other investors named therein and the escrow agent named therein is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.6 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on May 15, 2007.
10.17
Letter agreement dated May 8, 2007 between China Education Alliance, Inc. and SBI Advisors LLC, and related payment letter is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.7 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on May 15, 2007.
10.18
Amendment dated as of May 23, 2007 to the Securities Purchase Agreement dated May 8, 2007, among China Education Alliance, Inc. , Barron Partners, LP and the other investors named therein is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. y filed with the SEC on June 7, 2007.
10.19
3% Convertible Note issued to Barron Partners, LP is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.2 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on June 7, 2007.
10.20
Closing Escrow Agreement, dated May, 2007, among China Education Alliance, Inc. , Barron Partners, LP, the other investors named therein and the escrow agent named therein is hereby incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.3 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on June 7, 2007.
10.21
Letter Agreement dated November 30, 2007, among China Education Alliance, Inc. , Barron Partners, LP and the other investors named therein is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.22 to the Form SB-2/A Registration Statement of China Education Alliance, Inc. (File No. 333-146023) filed with the SEC on December 7, 2007.
10.22
Extracts of Office Rental Agreement dated January 28, 2006 by and between Vocational Education Organization Service Centre and Beijing Hua Yu HuiZhong Technology Development Co., Limited is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.22 to the Form 10-KSB of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on March 31, 2008.
10. 23
House Lease Contract dated January 29, 2006 by and between Beijing Yi De Zhi Bang Technology Limited and Beijing Huayuhuizhong Technology Development Co., Ltd. is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.24 to the Form 10-KSB of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on March 31, 2008.
10. 24
Employment Contract between Zhonghelida Education Technology Co., Ltd and Xiqun Yu dated August 9, 2004 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.27 to the Form 10-KSB of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on March 31, 2008.
10. 25
Employment Contract between Zhonghelida Education Technology Co., Ltd and Chunqing Wang dated August 9, 2004 is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.28 to the Form 10-KSB of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on March 31, 2008.
10.26
Underwriting Agreement dated as of September 29, 2009 by and between the Registrant and Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Form 8-K of China Education Alliance, Inc. filed with the SEC on September 30, 2009.
10.27
Employment Agreement dated as of March 1, 2011 between Alice Lee Rogers and the Registrant filed with the SEC on March 4, 2011.
10.28
Management Agreement dated March 4, 2011 between Nanchang Institute of Technology and Registrant filed with the SEC on March 7, 2011.
10.29
Share Transfer Agreement dated March 14, 2011 between the shareholder of Harbin Tianlang Culture and Education School and the Registrant filed with the SEC on March 17, 2011.
10.30
Agreement dated March 21, 2011 between the Company and Nanchang Institute of Technology.
21.1
List of Subsidiaries.
23.1
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (Sherb & Co., LLP).
31.1
Certification of the Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2
Certification of the Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1
Certification of the Principal Executive Officer pursuant to U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2
Certification of the Principal Financial Officer pursuant to U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature
Title
Date
/s/ Xiqun Yu
President, Chief Executive Officer
April 15, 2011
Xiqun Yu
Chairman of the Board of Directors
and Director (Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Alice Lee Rogers
Chief Financial Officer
April 15, 2011
Alice Lee Rogers
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
/s/ James Hsu
Director
April 15, 2011
James Hsu
/s/ Liansheng Zhang
Director
April 15, 2011
Liansheng Zhang
/s/ Yizhao Zhang
Director
April 15, 2011
Yizhao Zhang