GUANGZHOU: English language learning institutions in Guangzhou are being told to focus more on high-end training services to better survive in the ever-growing market.

Li Anhong, director of the Guangdong Best Training Centre, said that training organizations in the capital of Guangdong Province needed to provide better service in terms of teaching methods and materials.

"Because of the more competitive English study environment, most training institutions are competing for a bigger share in the market and some have been forced to close due to poor service and management," Li said.

Guangzhou has seen rapid development in foreign trade over the last decade and has become a huge potential market for English training.

The Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily has reported that the market value of the English training sector in Guangzhou reaches at least 300 million yuan (US$37 million) each year.

The increasing openness of the city has led to a greater need for individuals and corporations to communicate in English, Li said.

The estimated number of such training institutes in Guangzhou has reached nearly 300, including several foreign brands.

Italy-based Wall Street English Institute, one of the world's leading English training centres, tapped into the Guangzhou market last year after setting up several training branches in Beijing and Shanghai.

Li's training institute, located in the booming business centre of Tianhe District in Guangzhou, started operating early in 2002.

Focusing mainly on business English training courses, the institute enrols an average of 1,000 students each year, 90 per cent of whom are from multinational corporations.

Zhuang Yulian, an employee from a foreign-funded company based in Guangzhou, said she began the business English training despite studying English at college.

"I had to go to the training centre to improve business English for practical use," Zhuang said.

Editor: Yan