Garrett_Li ・ Dec. 29, 2021BEIJING, December 28 (TMTPOST) — Chinese private education giant New Oriental’s founder and president Yu Minhong started his first e-commerce livestream show on Tuesday, selling agricultural products from farmers to consumers.
The livestream show was held on New Oriental’s e-commerce livestream platform Dongfangzhenxuan, which means Delicacies from the East.
Image Source: Visual China
New Oriental Group’s transition to e-commerce livestream in the double-reduction-policy era was already hinted earlier. In November, Yu publicly stated in a livestream that he was planning to establish a major agricultural platform and support farmers with livestreamers.
“I was living in the countryside before I turned 18. I had planted all kinds of agricultural products back in my hometown. Since little, I have enjoyed watching wheat seedlings grow out from the ground and turn green and continue to thrive and form a golden field after winter,” Yu said. “It made me happy.”
Yu’s attachment to the countryside in China is also reflected by his philanthropy. New Oriental’s tutoring centers across the country have donated nearly 80,000 new sets of desks and chairs to schools in rural areas in the country. Each set costs around 700 yuan (US$109), according to New Oriental.
See also: New Oriental to Switch From K12 Tutoring to Selling Farm Produce
Despite its new venture in the e-commerce livestream sector, New Oriental will continue with some of the existing education businesses, the company said. The education giant will still provide education services in college English tests, graduate school entrance exams, language proficiency tests, overseas studies and study camps, etc.
Yu’s wealth experienced a drastic slump after China’s double reduction policy sent New Oriental’s share price diving on the stock market. Yu’s wealth decreased from 26 billion yuan to 7.5 billion in 2021, according to Hurun China Rich List. Yu was ranked the 197th richest person in China with 26 billion yuan in wealth in 2020. His ranking had fallen to 973th in 2021.
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