BEIJING, July 25, 2021 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- New Oriental
Education & Technology Group Inc. ("New Oriental" or the
"Company") (NYSE: EDU and SEHK: 9901), the largest provider of
private educational services in China, announced that, on July 24, 2021, China's official state media, including Xinhua
News Agency and China Central Television, announced the Opinions on
Further Alleviating the Burden of Homework and After-School
Tutoring for Students in Compulsory Education (the "Opinion"),
issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the
General Office of the State Council. The Opinion contains
high-level policy directives about requirements and restrictions
related to after-school tutoring services, including (i)
institutions providing after-school tutoring services on academic
subjects in China's compulsory
education system, or Academic AST Institutions, need to be
registered as non-profit, no approval will be granted to new
Academic AST Institutions, and an approval mechanism will be
adopted for online Academic AST Institutions; (ii) foreign
ownership in Academic AST Institutions is prohibited, including
through contractual arrangements, and companies with existing
foreign ownership need to rectify the situation; (iii) listed
companies are prohibited from raising capital to invest in
businesses that teach academic subjects in compulsory education;
(iv) Academic AST Institutions are prohibited from providing
tutoring services on academic subjects in compulsory education
during public holidays, weekends and school breaks; and (v)
Academic AST Institutions must follow the fee standards to be
established by relevant authorities. The Opinion also provides that
institutions providing after-school tutoring services on academic
subjects in high schools (which do not fall within China's compulsory education system) shall
take into consideration the Opinion when conducting activities.
The Company will follow the spirit of the Opinion and comply
with relevant rules and regulations when providing educational
services. The Company is considering appropriate compliance
measures to be taken, and expects such measures to have material
adverse impact on its after-school tutoring services related to
academic subjects in China's
compulsory education system. The Company will proactively
seek guidance from and cooperate with the government authorities in
connection with its efforts to comply with the Opinion and any
related rules and regulations.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "estimates" and similar statements. New Oriental may
also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports
filed or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other
written materials and in oral statements made by its officers,
directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not
historical facts, including statements about New Oriental's beliefs
and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of
factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not
limited to the following: our ability to attract students without a
significant decrease in course fees; our ability to continue to
hire, train and retain qualified teachers; our ability to maintain
and enhance our "New Oriental" brand; our ability to effectively
and efficiently manage the expansion of our school network and
successfully execute our growth strategy; the outcome of ongoing,
or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating
to copyright and other intellectual property rights; competition in
the private education sector in China; changes in our revenues and
certain cost or expense items as a percentage of our revenues; the
expected growth of the Chinese private education market; Chinese
governmental policies relating to private educational services and
providers of such services; health epidemics and other outbreaks in
China; and general economic conditions in China. Further
information regarding these and other risks is included in our
annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. New Oriental does not
undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement,
except as required under applicable law. All information provided
in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of
this press release, and New Oriental undertakes no duty to update
such information, except as required under applicable law.
About New Oriental
New Oriental is the largest provider of private educational
services in China offering a wide
range of educational programs, services and products to a varied
student population throughout China. New Oriental's program, service and
product offerings consist of K-12 after-school tutoring, test
preparation, language training for adults, pre-school education,
primary and secondary school education, education materials and
distribution, online education, and other services. New Oriental is
listed on NYSE (NYSE: EDU) and SEHK (9901.SEHK), respectively. New
Oriental's ADSs, each of which represents one common share. The
Hong Kong-listed shares are fully
fungible with the ADSs listed on NYSE.
For more information about New Oriental, please visit
http://www.neworiental.org/english/.
Contacts
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Ms. Sisi Zhao
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6260-5568
Email: zhaosisi@xdf.cn
Ms. Rita Fong / Ms. Charlotte Cheung
FTI Consulting
Tel: +852 3768 4548 / +852 3768 4732
Email: rita.fong@fticonsulting.com /
charlotte.cheung@fticonsulting.com
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SOURCE New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.