Tencent Core Founder Charles Chen Yidan showcases world’s largest international educational award to stakeholders in Europe

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 16 December 2016 - The Yidan Prize Foundation has visited Europe to encourage nominations for the Yidan Prize and engage in discussions on the future of education with a cross-section of stakeholders in the region. This high-level engagement brings together for the first time the world's largest international award in education and the European education community.

In early December, Charles Chen Yidan, founder of the Yidan Prize and a core founder of Chinese internet company Tencent visited the UK and Germany to introduce the Yidan Prize to leading members of the academic and education community. In addition to visiting the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and University College London, he also had meetings with the Sutton Trust, the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Humboldt University of Berlin, Free University of Berlin, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and other universities, foundations and research institutes.

During his stay in the UK, Mr. Chen spoke at the Milken Institute London Summit 2016, which was attended by almost a thousand business leaders, investors, philanthropists and decision-makers.

Speaking about his visit to Europe, Mr. Chen said: "I founded the Yidan Prize to support ideas that can change the lives of people around the world by encouraging innovation and forward thinking in education, so Europe, with its long tradition of giving birth to ideas and educational initiatives that have found global audiences and applications, is an obvious and essential place to promote the prize. During my visit to Europe, I had some fruitful meetings and I was impressed by how Europe emphasizes humanities and constant innovation in education system."

"From my own experience with Tencent and since then as a philanthropist supporting educational initiatives in China, I understand the potential of technology to transform global education, and with 47 percent of people globally now using the internet this potential is growing by the day. Such tremendous advances in connectivity now mean that we can bring learning opportunities to communities that previously did not have them, and leverage technology and innovation to raise standards and levels of education worldwide."

Established in 2016, the Yidan Prize recognizes individuals whose work transforms education in innovative ways that can be repeated around the world to provide access and improve the quality of education for all. Nominations for the Prize are currently open, and will be accepted until March next year.

About the Yidan Prize

Founded in 2016 by Charles Chen Yidan, the Yidan Prize reaches out to the world to give recognition to individuals whose work makes profound contributions to education research and development, with the ultimate aim of creating a better world through education. The Yidan Prize consists of two awards: the Yidan Prize for Education Research, which recognizes outstanding research that amounts to significant contributions to education; and the Yidan Prize for Education Development, which recognizes innovative ideas that tackle pressing challenges in the field of education. Nominees can be either individuals or teams of up to three representatives, who can be teachers, researchers, academics, policymakers and advocates among others. Yidan Prize Laureates each receive a gold medal and a total sum of HK$30 million (about $3.8 million) including a cash prize and a project fund of HK$15 million (about $1.9 million). To ensure transparency and sustainability, the prize is managed by the Yidan Prize Foundation and governed by an independent trust with an endowment of HK$2.5 billion (about $320 million). Through a series of initiatives, the prize serves to establish a platform that allows the global community to engage in conversation around education and to play a role in education philanthropy.

As a part of the project, the Yidan Prize Foundation commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to conduct a study on future trends in education across 25 economies. The results can be viewed here: https://www.eiuperspectives.economist.com/talent-education/education-2030

For more information on the Yidan Prize: www.yidanprize.org/en/