Economic Observer reporter Tian Guobao

On the afternoon of June 25, 2026, a college enrollment consultation meeting was being held on the playground of Zhizhen School in Anping, Hebei Province. On the exhibition boards around the venue, the 2026 college entrance examination results of Anping Zhizhen School are displayed -1335 students scored above 600 points, exceeding 1000 students for four consecutive years.

Faced with this achievement, Han Shihui, the founder of Anping Zhizhen School, cannot be happy. He introduced that the school's loan from Beijing Bank Shijiazhuang Branch has been overdue for more than a year. Since the beginning of this year, the bank has notified him multiple times that it will initiate an auction process for the school's equity.

Anping Zhizhen School is a private high school founded by the faculty of Hengshui No.2 Middle School. Since the beginning of this century, public prestigious schools such as Hengshui Middle School and Hengshui No.2 Middle School have gained fame due to their high school entrance examination scores. A group of private schools that rely on the educational resources of such public schools have developed and are collectively referred to as "Hengshui style" middle schools.

Not only Anping Zhizhen School is troubled, but the problem is not limited to debt. Since 2021, Hebei has continuously standardized the cross regional enrollment of private high schools. With the full implementation of the new policies in 2024, both the enrollment scale and the proportion of students with scores above 600 will experience varying degrees of decline compared to the peak period in 2025.

In the past, these private schools recruited top students from all over the country and naturally achieved outstanding results. "A local private education professional told the Economic Observer that with the implementation of the new policy, the source of students from other provinces has been basically cut off, and the enrollment scope of the province has also been greatly restricted. In addition, the enrollment plan has been tightened, and the development of Hengshui affiliated middle schools has shifted from expansion to contraction.

Turn

In 2017, a number of private schools have been formed in various districts and counties of Hengshui. They have utilized the reputation and teaching staff of public schools to recruit students nationwide, such as Hengshui No.1 Middle School established based on Hengshui Middle School, Hengshui Zhizhen School and Hengshui Binhu Zhizhen built based on Hengshui No.2 Middle School, etc.

Han Shihui introduced that Qin Haiti, the then principal of Hengshui No.2 Middle School, was from Anping County. Once back in Anping, the local government hoped that he could help develop private education in Anping, and Qin Haiti expressed support; Subsequently, the local government sought investment from Han Shihui, who is engaged in real estate development, to jointly establish Anping Zhizhen School.

Han Shihui revealed that the total investment of the school exceeds 2 billion yuan. Due to the tight schedule and large one-time investment scale, self owned funds cannot cover it. Part of it relies on advance funding from builders and suppliers, while the other part comes from bank loans and other sources of borrowing.

In the autumn of 2018, Anping Zhizhen School opened, and the daily teaching management was handled by the team from Hengshui No.2 Middle School. When the school was first established, the student population was limited, and the income barely covered daily operations. There was no more funds available for debt repayment, and even project payments could not be settled.

In 2021, the first college entrance examination results of Anping Zhizhen School were released, greatly driving enrollment, and the school subsequently began to achieve profitability.

Han Shihui introduced that from 2021 to 2024, the school relied on profits to repay about 800 million yuan in debt, and the project funds were basically paid off; At present, there is still a total of 533 million yuan in loans owed to Bank of Beijing, Hengshui Bank, and Xingtai Bank, in addition to 900 million yuan in other debts.

Starting from 2025, Anping Zhizhen School does not have sufficient funds to repay its debts, and the 63 million yuan loan from Beijing Bank Shijiazhuang Branch is overdue. Beijing Bank has applied to the Anping County Court for compulsory enforcement, and part of the equity of the borrower Anping Zhizhen Senior High School Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Anping Zhizhen") has been frozen. In July 2026, Hengshui Bank's 320 million yuan loan is also about to mature.

According to another shareholder of Anping Zhizhen, the school has reached a new agreement with Beijing Bank Shijiazhuang Branch regarding loan matters. He did not disclose the specific content of the agreement.

Tianyancha shows that Han Shihui and his wife Tian Xiaofang jointly hold 41% of Anping Zhizhen's shares, Cui Yueguo holds 21.6%, Zhizhen Education Consulting holds 17%, Ma Faxiang holds 10.4%, and Cui Shuju holds 10%. The shareholder of Zhizhen Education Consulting is Gao Hui, who represents the school management team.

Not only Anping Zhizhen School is in the same situation. Hengshui Taihua Middle School, which was renamed from Hengshui No.1 Middle School, has also become a debtor due to multiple loan disputes. According to judicial documents, in November 2025, the school became the debtor due to a loan contract dispute, but the amount involved was not shown; In May and June 2026, the school became the debtor again, involving an amount exceeding 100 million yuan.

Taihua Middle School is jointly established by Taihua Jinye Real Estate and Hengshui Middle School. Taihua Jinye Real Estate has also invested in the construction of several middle schools, including Zhizhen Experimental Middle School and Qinghe County Zhizhen Middle School. Tianyancha shows that the equity of Qinghe County Zhizhen Middle School Co., Ltd. has been frozen, involving an executed amount of 135 million yuan.

In addition, Hengshui Fuyang Middle School, Langfang Zhihong Senior High School Co., Ltd., and other Hengshui High Schools have also become debtors due to debt disputes and other reasons.

In the opinion of an investor from a private high school in Hengshui, there are two main reasons for the debt disputes that have arisen in Hengshui high schools.

Firstly, there is a significant investment in heavy assets. Taihua Middle School has not only established multiple private schools in Hebei Province, but also extended its investment reach to Henan, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other places; The construction scale of Anping Zhizhen School can accommodate 35000 people.

As the real estate industry enters a period of adjustment, the founders find it difficult to continue providing blood transfusions for the school. The school's income is insufficient to repay loans, and debt problems such as overdue loans and engineering debts occur frequently. Han Shihui admitted that if Anping Zhizhen School were built in stages, it would not bear such a huge debt.

Secondly, there have been changes in enrollment policies. With the comprehensive tightening of cross regional enrollment in Hebei, the enrollment scale of private schools has been reduced, and tuition fees and related income have also decreased synchronously. At the same time, the number of high-quality students available for selection has significantly decreased.

Correction

During the rapid expansion period of Hengshui private high schools, various schools relied on favorable conditions to recruit high-quality students on a large scale in other cities, counties, and even other provinces in Hebei. This "cutting corners" enrollment model has gradually raised questions from schools and education authorities in other regions. In this context, the education department has begun to standardize high school enrollment.

In June 2021, the Education Department of Hebei Province issued a notice on strengthening the enrollment management of ordinary high schools, requiring that the annual enrollment plan of each ordinary high school be controlled within 2000 people, and the enrollment plan of private ordinary high schools outside the approval area be controlled within 30% of the total enrollment plan of the school. Starting from 2024 at the latest, private ordinary high schools are only allowed to enroll students in the approval area, and public high schools are strictly prohibited from participating in the establishment of private high schools.

According to several private high school officials from Hengshui, a large number of teachers in private schools previously came from public schools, and enrollment can also rely on public schools. After the implementation of the new policy, public teachers are not allowed to work part-time in private schools, and the "public participation in private" model is gradually being phased out. Schools can only operate independently or complete the "private to public" transformation.

Han Shihui introduced that there were also many part-time teachers from Hengshui No.2 Middle School at Anping Zhizhen School, all of whom withdrew after 2021; Some management personnel resigned from their positions at Hengshui No.2 Middle School and stayed full-time at Anping Zhizhen School, where the school began to operate independently.

Starting from 2024, cross provincial enrollment will be completely suspended, and cross regional enrollment within the province will also be subject to strict quota restrictions. Education departments in various regions will determine the enrollment quota of private schools in the local area according to the enrollment plan. Enrollment beyond the plan is considered illegal.

After the adjustment of enrollment policies, the enrollment scale of Hengshui private schools has significantly shrunk. According to the annual high school enrollment plan of Hengshui City, by 2025, the enrollment plan for inclusive students and self funded students in private high schools in the main urban area will be 6077 and 2139, respectively, a decrease of 45.2% and 38.1% compared to 2024.

Among them, the inclusive student program at Taihua Middle School has been reduced from 1134 in 2024 to 733 in 2025, Hengshui Zhizhen Middle School from 637 to 555, Binhu Zhizhen Middle School from 1198 to 486, and Zhizhen Experimental Middle School from 1102 to 409.

For the first two batches of unified enrollment for the middle school entrance examination, students who are eligible for universal benefit will receive a 10% discount on tuition fees; The third batch of volunteers are mostly self funded students supported by private schools, with relatively high tuition fees, and some even need to pay tuition fees.

As the enrollment scale shrinks, high scores also begin to decline. Taking a well-known private high school in Hengshui as an example, the proportion of students with a score of 600 or above will be 67% in 2023 and 39.5% in 2025; Another well-known private high school should account for 46% in 2023 and 24.6% in 2025. Due to the large scale of repeat students and other reasons, this proportion will increase compared to 2025 in 2026.

According to the introduction of local private education professionals mentioned above, after the regulation of enrollment from other places, a large number of high-quality students in the city have flowed to public schools, making it more difficult for private schools to obtain high-quality students. Some private high schools have turned their focus to competing for repeat students. By 2025, there will be nearly a thousand high school repeaters.

In the past, it was difficult for private schools to obtain high-quality students after being at the forefront of the country and restricting enrollment from other regions. The person said that the new students admitted in 2024 will participate in the college entrance examination in 2027, and the impact will be clearer at that time.

A person from the education system of Hengshui City stated that the ban on enrollment from other places is a systematic correction of the "Hengzhong model". Private schools attract a large number of high-quality students from other regions through tuition waivers, scholarships, and other means, which has a negative impact on educational equity in other areas and squeezed the development space of local public schools in Hengshui.

The "Hengshui Model" (also known as the "Hengshui Model") is a high-intensity exam oriented education model formed to adapt to the college entrance examination system. Its characteristics are strict management, sea of questions tactics, and a high enrollment rate. Under this model, students' learning time is precise to the second. Triggering widespread controversy over the lack of creativity among students.

Some officials within the Hengshui education system have also begun to reflect on the "Hengshui model", which suggests that schools should cultivate various talents for society, rather than creating "exam machines". Even if these students are admitted to key universities, they may not necessarily meet the society's demand for talent.

Ebb Tide

Hengshui High School is not a single educational model, but is composed of various cooperative methods such as "public participation in the public", brand output, and joint education. The most influential one is the educational model that relies on the brand and management system of Hengshui Middle School and Hengshui No.2 Middle School to export to the whole country. This model has spawned dozens of schools named after Hengshui.

Hengshui Middle School is a key school in Hebei Province. In 1992, after Li Jinchi became the principal of Hengshui Middle School, he quickly improved the school's academic performance by strengthening school discipline, implementing a full boarding system and quasi military management, and establishing a teacher incentive mechanism linked to the enrollment rate.

In 1999, Hengshui High School established Hengshui Fuyang High School, mainly recruiting repeaters and students from other places, laying the foundation for the expansion of the "Hengshui Middle School Model" later on.

Around 2000, Hengshui Middle School was widely reported by the media due to its high admission rate ranking among the top in the province, gradually gaining popularity nationwide.

Since 2004, Hengshui Middle School has been expanding through joint education, named education, and the establishment of branch schools. The "public participation in private" model has become the most important path, relying on the relatively flexible enrollment and fee mechanism of private schools to break through the limitations of cross regional enrollment in public schools.

In 2013, Hengshui High School cooperated with Hebei Taihua Jinye Real Estate to invest in the construction of Hengshui No.1 High School, gradually covering the enrollment scope of Hebei and even the whole country. The investment of developers in running schools has also driven the development of surrounding real estate, forming a mutually reinforcing business model between educational resources and real estate development.

In 2014, Hengshui Experimental Middle School in Yunnan was established and subsequently developed into the First High School Education Group, which went public overseas. Afterwards, Hengshui No.2 Middle School and Hengshui No.13 Middle School also successively replicated the educational model, and multiple educational systems such as the Zhizhen Department were formed one after another. During the peak period, there were nearly 50 schools named "Hengshui" across 11 provinces in China.

Along with rapid expansion, controversies continue to accumulate. In 2017, the enrollment of Pinghu Branch of Hengshui No. 1 Middle School attracted public attention, and the relevant person in charge of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education publicly criticized him for "looking only at scores and no one else", believing that this model is contrary to the direction of local quality education.

In 2022, Hengshui No.1 Middle School will be renamed Hengshui Taihua Middle School, and many schools named "Hengshui" across the country will also be renamed one after another.

The above-mentioned education system personnel in Hengshui City introduced that after the introduction of relevant policies in Hebei, the overall scale of cross regional enrollment has continued to shrink. Although there was a deviation in implementation in 2024, strict regulations will be implemented again in 2025. The development model of Hengshui schools relying on cross regional aggregation of high-quality students in the past is no longer sustainable.

The person stated that the college entrance examination is admitted according to the provincial ranking, and the Hengzhong model is essentially an industrial assembly line method for producing high scores, which is a victory of management and motivation. It seriously overdraws children's enthusiasm for learning and life, and even causes irreversible damage to the physical and mental health of some children.

You say it has good grades, but it's not clear how much it relies on being a top student or being trained in school. In the opinion of this person, for some families, the "Hengzhong model" once provided a path to change their destiny through the college entrance examination, but the side effects were equally significant.