TAL - Chinese education stocks slip on further regulation fears

Chinese education stocks slid sharply on Wednesday after Vice Premier Sun Chunlan signaled a desire to enact more reforms on the private tutoring industry.

In an opinion piece authored for the state-backed People’s Daily, the highest ranking female official in the Chinese Communist Party railed against the capitalistic nature of the industry.

“A conscientious industry cannot become a profit-seeking industry, nor can capital expand disorderly in the field of education, increase the burden on the masses, and destroy the educational environment,” she wrote . “Educational equity is an important foundation of social equity, not only in the equalization of basic public services, but also in the equity of educational opportunities, resource allocation, and institutional policies.”

Shares of US-listed Chinese education companies TAL Education ( NYSE: TAL ) -2.94% and New Oriental Education & Technology Group ( NYSE: EDU ) -4.26% were among premarket decliners on Wednesday.

Read more on TAL Education’s latest earnings results .

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