"China's 130 Trillion Private Education Market Crackdown for 2 Years... Only Enlarged the Black Market"

"China's 'With Corona' First Summer Vacation Sparks Middle-Class Private Education Boom"

It has been two years since China began cracking down on the $100 billion (about 130 trillion won) private education market to ease the burden on parents, but the black market has only grown, Bloomberg reported on the 21st.

Bloomberg reported that after interviewing several parents in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other areas, many households' private education expenses actually increased following the authorities' crackdown on the private education market, especially during this summer vacation, the first break after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. Parents who want their children to gain an academic advantage are flocking to the rapidly expanding high-priced private education market across China.

The Chinese authorities implemented the "Shuangjian (雙減)" policy in July 2021 to reduce homework and tutoring burdens for primary and secondary school students, aiming to lessen family financial burdens and curb reckless capital expansion. After banning after-school private education for essential subjects including English academies, most related companies and academies closed, resulting in hundreds of thousands of job losses.

There are concerns that the private education market in China cannot disappear as long as the annual university entrance exam, the "Gaokao," which is taken by 10 million people each year, exists. The Gaokao is a ladder for social mobility. Entering a good university generally means securing a good job. This means the private education market is inevitable.

According to a Bloomberg reporter's recent weekend observation at a commercial building in Jing'an District, Shanghai, signs reading "Thinking Skills" or "Literature Linguistics" were displayed, but in reality, after-school tutoring in math and Chinese (national language) was being conducted. The tuition fee per session for these lessons was 300 to 500 yuan (about 53,000 to 90,000 won). Many instructors who used to conduct large-scale lectures at major academies have drastically reduced class sizes to avoid crackdowns, often offering one-on-one lessons, which has led to increased tuition fees.

Parents complain not only about expensive tuition fees but also about the difficulty of finding good instructors. This is because public information about instructors disappeared due to the authorities' crackdown. The authorities allow some large-scale online lectures, which are much cheaper but not very popular. Many middle-class parents believe such types of lectures cannot provide appropriate education for their children.

Bloomberg pointed out, "In cities like Shanghai, annual private education expenses per household now easily exceed 100,000 yuan (about 17.9 million won)," adding, "This is a challenge faced by Chinese authorities trying to solve structural social problems such as low birth rates and wealth disparity." It further analyzed, "Amid economic slowdown, rising child-rearing costs, and soaring housing prices, young Chinese increasingly avoid marriage and childbirth," explaining, "Poor families cannot afford private education, which potentially puts their children at a disadvantage in school and ultimately affects their careers."

Several local Chinese authorities have recently intensified their crackdown on private education. The Communist Party's official newspaper, People's Daily, reported that Hefei authorities in Anhui Province conducted 77 raids on private education institutions in a single day on the 28th of last month. It added that private education companies violating regulations were conducting subject lectures under false signs such as "education consultation" in hotels or apartments.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the same day that young Chinese are pursuing the "DINK" lifestyle (Double Income, No Kids) due to soaring child-rearing and private education costs. The newspaper analyzed that although the tendency among Chinese to refuse parenthood due to economic burdens existed even before COVID-19, the three years of zero-COVID policies involving job losses, lockdowns, and economic uncertainty have deepened this trend.

The newspaper diagnosed, "Many young couples in China are avoiding government subsidies or incentives to live a life free from the burdens of children," and warned that the increase in DINK families could prolong China's population crisis.

China's population declined last year for the first time in 61 years. The number of newborns last year was 9.5 million. This is the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 that the number of newborns has fallen below 10 million.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.