In Depth: China’s Tutoring Industry Scrambles to Survive After Reforms Close Book on Lucrative Business Model

One day in October, Songwan elementary school in Central China’s Henan province received a donation out of the blue — 300 school desks — shipped from a branch of the private tutoring company New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. 200 miles away.

Songwan was not the only school to receive gifts from New Oriental that month. The New York-listed company sent more than 70,000 school desks to rural classrooms across the country.