China confirms ban on for-profit tutoring in core school subjects: Xinhua

Students wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus review textbooks outside a school before their China's national college entrance examinations, known as the gaokao, in Beijing, Monday, June 7, 2021. More than 10 million high school students throughout China will take the two days annual college entrance exams which start on Monday to Tuesday, according to the state media report. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

SHANGHAI -

China is barring tutoring for profit in core school subjects to ease financial pressures on families that have contributed to low birth rates, a report in the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

The news confirmed a measure contained in a government document widely circulated on Friday and confirmed by Reuters that sent shockwaves through China's vast private education sector, hitting providers' share prices.

Foreign investment in the sector will be prohibited under the rules set out by the State Council, Xinhua said.

Curriculum-based tutoring institutions will be barred from raising money through listings or other capital-related activities, while listed companies will not be allowed to invest in such institutions, according to the rules.

The policy aims to "significantly" reduce the financial burdens faced by students and families within three years, the news agency said.

(Reporting by Zoey Zhang and Engen Tham in Shanghai Editing by Alison Williams and Helen Popper)