Education companies adapt to new needs

Major listed Chinese education companies have made progress in transforming their businesses after having reported heavy losses in the first half of the 2021-22 financial year.

The losses came following the government's enactment of the strictest regulations ever placed on the billion-dollar private tutoring sector in July.

The Ministry of Education recently said that all 25 Chinese tutoring companies listed in the country or overseas no longer offer academic tutoring services to primary and middle school students. The number of such offline tutoring institutions has been slashed by 92 percent, from 124,000 to 9,728.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group, once the country's largest education company, posted $876 million in losses for the six months to Nov. 30－a huge contrast with the $229 million net profit in the same period a year earlier.

TAL Education Group, another company known for its after-school classes, reported a $1 billion net loss for the nine months to Nov 30. The company had $53 million in profit over the same period a year earlier.

Industry experts said that the country's education companies should look to turn deficits into profits by accelerating the hunt for new business growth, given their huge user base across the nation.

New Oriental founder Yu Minhong and his colleagues took a giant leap of faith in a different direction, leaping into China's burgeoning livestreaming business. They debuted as e-commerce livestreamers and sold agricultural products like corn, cherries and edible fungus.

"The goal of e-commerce via livestreaming is to help drive rural revitalization and make high-quality agricultural products available to consumers and also increase farmers' income," Yu said.

"We can also leverage its training and online technology advantages to diversify into agricultural training online, which can help farmers broaden their knowledge and improve their skills," he added.

In another case, Rise Education Cayman Ltd signed a merger agreement this year with Dada Auto Inc, a technology services provider, to enter the country's electric vehicle charging market.

New York Stock Exchange-listed Puxin Ltd, a private educational services provider, is also considering diversification into the fast-food restaurant chain business and starting other restaurants within or around its schools.

"Most of the Chinese companies have the advantage of offline and online channels with nationwide reach, which will greatly help them in tapping into many businesses," said Wang Peng, an associate professor at the Hillhouse Research Institute.

"But entering a brand-new industry will also pose great challenges to survival. Businesses such as livestreaming, new energy and catering are already highly competitive," Wang said.

Other listed companies chose what they saw as a safer path by entering the vocational or adult education market, which, according to market consultancy iResearch, hit about 19.19 billion yuan ($3 billion) last year.

TAL launched a new brand called Qingzhou, which focuses on tutoring for postgraduate examinations and qualifying exams for students going overseas, including the Test of English as a Foreign Language and International English Language Testing System.

Gaotu Group also unveiled a new version of its mobile app covering language training, college student examinations, finances, public examinations, teaching, studying abroad, certain types of vocational education services and a family education system class.

Industry experts said that the vocational education market is expected to open new vistas for these education companies as China recently released a series of guidelines to promote the high-quality development of modern vocational education.

The country aims to build a modern vocational education system by 2025, and by 2035, its vocational education is forecast to be ranked among the best in the world, according to guidelines jointly released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet.

Listed companies and leading enterprises in related sectors are being encouraged to develop vocational education. Vocational schools are also encouraged to work with private businesses to develop infrastructure and training centers together, it said.

"Unlike previous policies, the new guideline mentioned for the first time participation of listed companies, which means that such companies, even if they are not leading ones, can be involved in developing vocational education," said Xiong Bingqi, director of Beijing-based 21st Century Education Research Institute.

教育公司适应新需求

中国主要上市教育公司在2021-22财年上半年报告亏损后，在业务转型方面取得了进展。 这些损失发生在政府于7月颁布了有史以来对数十亿美元的私人辅导行业实施的最严格的规定之后。

教育部近日表示，在国内或海外上市的25家中文辅导公司不再向中小学生提供学术辅导服务。此类线下辅导机构的数量减少了92%，从124，000个减少到9，728个。

新东方教育科技集团（New Oriental Education & Technology Group）曾是该国最大的教育公司，在截至11月30日的六个月内亏损8.76亿美元，与去年同期的2.29亿美元净利润形成鲜明对比。

另一家以课后班而闻名的公司联业教育集团（TAL Education Group）报告称，截至11月30日的九个月中，该公司净亏损为10亿美元。该公司与去年同期相比有5300万美元的利润。

行业专家表示，鉴于其在全国范围内拥有庞大的用户群，该国的教育公司应该通过加速寻求新的业务增长来将赤字转化为利润。

东方新创始人于敏洪和他的同事们朝着不同的方向迈出了巨大的信念，进入了中国蓬勃发展的直播业务。他们以电子商务直播者的身份首次亮相，并出售玉米，樱桃和食用菌等农产品。

"通过直播进行电子商务的目标是帮助推动农村振兴，向消费者提供高质量的农产品，并增加农民的收入，"Yu说。

"我们还可以利用其培训和在线技术优势，实现在线农业培训的多元化，这可以帮助农民拓宽知识面，提高技能，"他补充说。

在另一个案例中，Rise Education Cayman Ltd今年与技术服务提供商Dada Auto Inc签署了一项合并协议，以进入该国的电动汽车充电市场。

在纽约证券交易所上市的私营教育服务提供商普信有限公司（Puxin Ltd）也在考虑多元化进入快餐连锁业务，并在学校内或周围开设其他餐馆。

"大多数中国公司都拥有覆盖全国的线下和线上渠道的优势，这将极大地帮助他们进入许多企业，"高瓴研究所副教授王鹏说。

"但进入一个全新的行业，也会给生存带来巨大的挑战。直播、新能源和餐饮等业务已经竞争激烈，"王说。

其他上市公司通过进入职业或成人教育市场选择了他们认为更安全的道路，根据市场咨询公司艾瑞咨询（iResearch）的数据，去年的职业教育或成人教育市场规模约为191.9亿元人民币（30亿美元）。

联业制衣推出了名为青州的新品牌，专注于研究生考试辅导和出国留学人员资格考试，包括英语作为外语考试和国际英语语言考试系统。

高途集团还推出了新版本的移动应用程序，涵盖语言培训，大学生考试，财务，公共考试，教学，出国留学，某些类型的职业教育服务和家庭教育系统课程。

业内专家表示，随着中国近日发布一系列推动现代职业教育高质量发展的指导方针，职业教育市场有望为这些教育企业开辟新的视野。

中国的目标是到2025年建立一个现代化的职业教育体系，根据中国共产党中央委员会总局和中国国务院国务院联合发布的指导方针，到2035年，中国的职业教育预计将跻身世界最佳之列。

鼓励上市公司和相关行业的龙头企业发展职业教育。它还鼓励职业学校与私营企业合作，共同发展基础设施和培训中心。

"与以往的政策不同，新指南首次提到上市公司的参与，这意味着这些公司即使不是领先的公司，也可以参与发展职业教育，"总部位于北京的21世纪教育研究院院长熊秉琪说。