By Li Xiaoyang

Chinese online education platform 51Talk has occupied a large share in the domestic market with its online courses provided by Philippine English-speaking teachers. After the Chinese authorities issued a guideline in July on regulating the tutoring market to ease the burden on students in compulsory education， the company issued a statement on August 9 that it would stop selling courses by foreign teachers to domestic teenage students from that day onward， and shift its focus toward adult English teaching—also a key component of its business.

The boot has dropped not only for the tutoring industry， but for the platform economy by large. Over the past months， the Chinese Government has launched supervision and antimonopoly penalties on Internet-based firms such as e-commerce giant Alibaba， online service platform Meituan and ride-hailing company DiDi Chuxing. Following the regulatory policies， Chinas stock market has recently been experiencing fluctuations. Concerns of foreign investors on the prospects of the Chinese market have also emerged.

However， many still hold that the potential of Chinese market remains. Improving regulations is not a direct cause of stock market fluctuations， but instead can promote sound market growth， according to Dong Dengxin， Director of the Finance and Securities Institute at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology.

“The recent weakening of Chinas stock market is within expectations after rebounds in previous months，” Dong told Beijing Review， adding that the U.S. newly released requirements on Chinese companies， combined with the deadlock in China-U.S. talks， have also led to declining investor confidence. On July 30， the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it would require Chinese companies to disclose more information before approving their listing applications.

As Ray Dalio， founder of the worlds largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates， wrote in a post on his LinkedIn account in early August， Chinas recent regulatory crackdown has been misconstrued as being anti-capitalist by some Western investors， even though the trend over the last 40 years has been strongly inclined toward developing a market economy.

“As a result， theyve missed out on whats going on in China and probably will continue to miss out on that，” Dalio said.

Market regulations

To ease the burden of students and ensure equal access to educational resources， Chinese authorities have recently been introducing a series of new policies on the regulation of off-campus training institutions. In late May， the government launched a crackdown on the unqualified operations and false advertising mechanisms of tutoring companies. The Ministry of Education later set up a new department to supervise offcampus education and training in June.