Much discussion online recently said that multibillion-dollar online education company Yuanfudao will change its tutoring service to selling down jackets following a new directive that places restrictions on tutoring classes.
But Yuanfudao said on Wednesday that its down jacket business is a financial investment and will operate independently. Its main activity will remain education services, the Shanghai Observer website reported.
Last year, Yuanfudao was one of China’s top education and science companies valued at $ 10 billion.
Trade news provider Tianyancha said Yuanfudao owned a 100% Beijing-based garment business and the down jacket business would likely be independent from Yuanfudao.
Beijing Bingyuan Garments Co was established on September 30, and its business covers areas such as clothing, hats and shoes, knitwear and textiles, daily necessities, art items and fashion design.
He did not specify the source of his funds.
Beijing News quoted an unidentified Yuanfudao worker as saying the company is organizing a team of adult down jacket designers.
On the Boss Zhipin online recruitment platform, Yuanfudao posted recruitment information for costume designers, seeking fashion design professionals with five or more years of experience as well as other positions related to the clothes.
Established in 2012, Yuanfudao, whose original name was Fenbiwang (Chalk Site), focused on preparing students for tests and on kindergarten at the end of high school learning.
Tutoring companies, especially those offering K-12 services, have been hit hard after Chinese authorities in July put in place a series of strict regulations to manage off-campus training, aimed at easing the burden on students following compulsory education.
Extracurricular tutoring providers are prohibited from teaching on weekends and during summer and winter holidays.
At the end of August, several established tutoring brands such as Qiwen Education, Juren Education and Greenlight Kids Education went bankrupt and were liquidated.
Yuanfudao has also developed many intelligent educational devices. But he switched to more profitable down jackets.
On Singles Day last year, sales of leading down jacket maker Bosideng hit a record 1.5 billion yuan ($ 234 million), up 50 percent from 2019.
Amid the current cold snap, down jackets topped discount online retailer Vip.com’s sales list on October 14, and sales were five times higher than the same period of the year. last.
But some netizens are not optimistic about the new activities of Yuanfudao.
On Zhihu, a major question-and-answer platform in China and related to Quora, a netizen claiming to be a former garment worker said the down jacket supply chain is almost the most complicated of all. clothing categories.
