China Tightens Regulation for Online Education

• Author: Mark Schaub,Iris Feng,Serena Guo
• Published date: 28/11/2019
• Citation: jd0073
• Date: 28 November 2019
• Subject Matter: Regulation

2020/10/29 China Tightens Regulation for Online Education | China Law Insight

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CHINA LAW INSIGHT

China Tightens Regulation for Online Education

By King & Wood Mallesons on November 28, 2019

by：Mark Schaub, Iris Feng and Serena Guo

The past five years witnessed a boom in the online education sector in China with annual

revenues increasing from RMB 122.54 billion in 2015 to RMB 269.26 billion (forecast) in

2019[1]. The rapid expansion is attributable to consumers’ love of the internet, the

continued growth of the middle class combined with the high regard in which education is

held in China.

However, the online education regulatory regime has not matched the sector’s speedy

development. The regulations remain fragmented and spread across a variety of

regulations that govern online activities more generally.

Curiously for a business that combines two highly sensitive areas of the Chinese

economy – the internet and education – online education was only first officially

addressed in 2018.

To some extent the PRC regulators are catching up as they have issued a slew of

regulations in order to better regulate online education. The regulations acknowledge the

hybrid nature of online education as a number of different authorities are cooperating in

building the regulatory framework.

General overview