China crushes rumours of after-school tutoring comeback with huge fine
Speculation was growing that Beijing would relax a ban on for-profit tutoring to boost the economy. Then a firm was hit with a US$9.7 million penalty
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.
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 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.”