China appears to have sent a message to the market with a recent 67 million yuan (US$9.7 million) fine on an unregistered education firm: the government is not planning to reverse its ban on after-school tutoring any time soon.
With Beijing striving to boost consumption and create jobs, there had been growing speculation that authorities might relax their restrictions on private academic tutoring – an industry that had been worth tens of billions of dollars before the 2021 ban.
But that now appears less likely after the tutoring company Beijing Hanxiu Bowen Culture was hit with a tough punishment for providing academic courses to primary and secondary school students between 2023 and 2025 without a private school operating licence.
The firm was found to have earned more than 15.8 million yuan through unlicensed tutoring, according to a notice posted on the website of Beijing’s market regulation body. In accordance with a 2023 regulation, which mandates fines worth one to five times the value of the illegal proceeds, the watchdog issued a penalty of 67.28 million yuan.
The case has attracted national attention in China, as enforcement of the after-school tutoring ban had appeared to loosen over the past couple of years amid an economic slowdown.
“The government will not back-pedal on the tutoring crackdown to boost the economy or employment,” said Chen Zhiwen, a member of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy, a Beijing-based education research organisation.
“The commitment to fairness in education outweighs the need for short-term gains in consumption or jobs.”
In July 2021, China banned all forms of for-profit tutoring of academic subjects to school-age children – part of a wider “double reduction” campaign aiming to ease the pressure on students by slashing the amount of time spent on homework and after-school classes.
The policy dealt a massive blow to the private education industry, wiping billions of dollars off the valuations of leading providers such as US-listed New Oriental. By the end of 2021, the number of curriculum-based tutoring organisations in China had plunged by more than 80 per cent, according to official data.
However, the demand for extra tutoring has far from disappeared. Competition in China’s education system remains intense, and many parents continue to send their children to after-school lessons – both licensed and unlicensed.
“While an increasing number of parents are adopting a more relaxed approach – perhaps a sign of the policy’s success – some are pushing harder than ever,” said Jane, a teacher at a private tutoring centre in Shanghai, who gave only her English name due to the sensitivity of the topic.
She noted that the crackdown had eased over the past two years, a view echoed by industry analysts.
“We rarely hear of penalties for weekend classes any more, unless someone is specifically reported,” Jane said, adding that unregistered tutoring outlets were still operating and even winning over students from her company, which is a licensed provider on the local “white list”.
Zhang Liangwei, an analyst at Soochow Securities, also said that enforcement of the after-school tutoring ban was softening in a research note published in May, while adding that the government remained firm in its broader policy goals. The industry’s growth would remain limited due to the tight control over new licences, Zhang predicted.
A 20-point plan to boost consumption released by the government in 2024 includes education spending as a tool to stimulate the economy. But Chen pointed out that the document referred to vocational and professional training, not academic tutoring for students in compulsory education.
“The persistent demand for extra help is why these agencies still exist,” Chen said, noting that schools should offer more individualised instruction to cater to families’ needs. “Schools must remain the main pillar of education, rather than letting off-campus tutoring take centre stage.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
