Piano teacher Liu Hongyu conducts a lesson for a student at a classroom in Beijing, China March 12, 2024.BEIJING — Last August, Zhang Zhaolin pulled her 10-year-old son out of football classes that he loved after she was laid off from her job at a Chinese internet firm.
Companies have lost business due to trade tensions with the West and the property sector has been reeling under mountains of debt. The year began with a stock market rout, concerns abound that deflation may become entrenched and consumer confidence is hovering near record lows. "My worry is whether the 30 students we have now will renew their classes after they finish the classes already paid for," she said.
In 2021, authorities cracked down on the private-sector tutoring industry — seeking to lessen the amount of homework given to students and to rein in the sky-high costs of education. China is the second most expensive place to raise a child after South Korea, according to Beijing-based YuWa Population Research Institute.