“Sofiri China opens up the opportunity for various of our products and services… to be available to education providers outside of China looking to successfully directly recruit students.”
Just three years after its Australian corporate debut, Sofiri has launched a valuable addition to its global product offering – “Sofiri.cn”, a dedicated website and business in China.
Having achieved its MVP within the constraints of China’s online regulatory system, commonly known as the “Chinese Great Firewall” (CGF), Sofiri is now able to trade within China under its company name “Sofiri (Shanghai) Education Technology Co., Ltd” (operating with the 沪ICP备19000738号-1).
Sofiri’s CEO and Founder, George Hernandez, knew from when first setting up Sofiri that having a legal business entity inside China was crucial to the ongoing success and development of Sofiri, particularly as year-on-year Chinese student numbers were steadily increasing.
“Before the pandemic, the number of students in China going abroad [got] close to 700,000 in 2019,” explains George. “It is common for education providers to partner with organisations based in China to support student recruitment activities. Direct student recruitment is available…ultimately, many students due to cultural and language affinity prefer to be assisted by an agent counsellor.”
But the prime reason direct student recruitment is used less often is due to technical reasons.
“[The CGF] impedes web and app users in mainland China to freely access sites, apps and networks outside of the country.”
This, is where Sofiri China comes in, says George, opening up “the opportunity for various of our products and services, including Sofiri Recruit, Sofiri education experts and the IQAP platform to be available to education providers outside of China looking to successfully directly recruit students.”
The Sofiri China technology is currently available via web (for desktops and mobiles), is hosted by Huawei and will be available as a mobile app for the Apple app store in June (and some key stores for Android devices by July 2021.)
Founded in January 2016, and based in Australia, Sofiri connects aspiring students with professionals who will navigate them to the educational opportunities available in key countries across the globe.
To learn more about partnering with Sofiri for student recruitment in China, or organising your study outside of China, visit sofiri.com or sofiri.cn.
For further comment or interviews, please contact Craig Ecclestone on +1 (647) 274-6166 or at craig.ecclestone@sofiri.com
