SkillSoft Corp., provider of e-learning courseware for business and IT professionals, has released 27 business skills courses localized for the Chinese market and covering areas such as project management, customer service, and leadership. The ongoing localization initiative is the result of SkillSoft's strategic alliance agreement withBeida-Online, a joint venture of Peking University and Jade Bird Group, a major Chinese IT company.

Under the agreement, Beida-Online, which is headquartered in Beijing, has distribution rights to all SkillSoft courses and other products in China.Localizing courses for use by Chinese corporations involves translation from English to Mandarin and incorporation of appropriate imagery and examples relevant to the Chinese market. Localization work is shared by Beida-Online, which handles all development work, and SkillSoft, which provides the development tools, methodology, and quality assurance. Plans call for a significant number of SkillSoft's 1,000-plus business skills courses to be localized for the Chinese market over the calendar year."Chinese businesses are eager to learn more about business. Our company sees e-learning as an efficient way to help Chinese businesses of all sizes learn the business skills required to compete in today's global business market," said Ni Jinlei, president and CEO of Beida-Online.