HKEX to Delist China 21st Century Education Group on October 13
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong announced on October 8 that the listing of China 21st Century Education Group Limited (stock code: 1598) will be cancelled with effect from 9:00 am on October 13, 2026, under Rule 6.01A(1) of the Listing Rules.
Trading in the company’s shares has been suspended since March 18, 2025. Under Rule 6.01A(1), the exchange has the right to delist the company if trading does not resume by September 17, 2026.
The company failed to fulfil the resumption guidance set by the exchange within that deadline. On September 25, 2026, the Listing Committee decided to cancel the listing of its shares on the exchange. HKEX has required the company to publish an announcement on the cancellation and advised shareholders who have questions about the implications to obtain appropriate professional advice.
Founded in 2000, 21st Century Education is a comprehensive private education group based in China’s Hebei province. It listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in May 2018, with businesses spanning higher vocational education, K12 education, preschool education and internet education. Its brands include Shijiazhuang Institute of Technology, New Frontier preschool education and Peijian Education.
Shijiazhuang Institute of Technology is the group’s core asset. Approved by the Hebei provincial government and registered with the Ministry of Education, it is a full-time higher vocational college entitled to issue nationally recognised academic credentials. The school operates two campuses in Luquan and Gaoyi, with a planned site of nearly 1,626 mu (about 108 hectares), building area of roughly 450,000 square metres, and more than 20,000 full-time students.
The college’s bankruptcy restructuring has drawn wide attention. The Hebei Association of Enterprise Bankruptcy Administrators disclosed on September 8, 2025 that the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court ruled on July 30, 2025 to accept the restructuring application filed for the school.
According to its book financial data as of April 30, 2025, the college reported total assets of RMB 1.359 billion (about US$191 million), total liabilities of RMB 561 million, off-balance-sheet liabilities of RMB 799 million, and net assets of minus RMB 1 million.
On September 22, 2025, the school, the liquidation committee administrator and the Hebei Provincial Department of Education said a restructuring investor had been found and that the school was being placed under government administration. In March 2026, CSPC Enbipu Pharmaceutical, part of CSPC Holdings, completed an overall acquisition through a judicial ruling as the sole restructuring investor, taking over Hebei Zerui Education Technology and all its supporting entities including the college — the original founders exited entirely.
The delisting ends an 18-month suspension for a group whose core campus went through insolvency proceedings and changed hands. That a pharmaceutical industrial buyer took over the vocational college suggests education assets still attract strategic capital in China, though the logic has shifted away from listing arbitrage toward industry-education integration.
Trading in the company’s shares has been suspended since March 18, 2025. Under Rule 6.01A(1), the exchange has the right to delist the company if trading does not resume by September 17, 2026.
The company failed to fulfil the resumption guidance set by the exchange within that deadline. On September 25, 2026, the Listing Committee decided to cancel the listing of its shares on the exchange. HKEX has required the company to publish an announcement on the cancellation and advised shareholders who have questions about the implications to obtain appropriate professional advice.
Founded in 2000, 21st Century Education is a comprehensive private education group based in China’s Hebei province. It listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in May 2018, with businesses spanning higher vocational education, K12 education, preschool education and internet education. Its brands include Shijiazhuang Institute of Technology, New Frontier preschool education and Peijian Education.
Shijiazhuang Institute of Technology is the group’s core asset. Approved by the Hebei provincial government and registered with the Ministry of Education, it is a full-time higher vocational college entitled to issue nationally recognised academic credentials. The school operates two campuses in Luquan and Gaoyi, with a planned site of nearly 1,626 mu (about 108 hectares), building area of roughly 450,000 square metres, and more than 20,000 full-time students.
The college’s bankruptcy restructuring has drawn wide attention. The Hebei Association of Enterprise Bankruptcy Administrators disclosed on September 8, 2025 that the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court ruled on July 30, 2025 to accept the restructuring application filed for the school.
According to its book financial data as of April 30, 2025, the college reported total assets of RMB 1.359 billion (about US$191 million), total liabilities of RMB 561 million, off-balance-sheet liabilities of RMB 799 million, and net assets of minus RMB 1 million.
On September 22, 2025, the school, the liquidation committee administrator and the Hebei Provincial Department of Education said a restructuring investor had been found and that the school was being placed under government administration. In March 2026, CSPC Enbipu Pharmaceutical, part of CSPC Holdings, completed an overall acquisition through a judicial ruling as the sole restructuring investor, taking over Hebei Zerui Education Technology and all its supporting entities including the college — the original founders exited entirely.
The delisting ends an 18-month suspension for a group whose core campus went through insolvency proceedings and changed hands. That a pharmaceutical industrial buyer took over the vocational college suggests education assets still attract strategic capital in China, though the logic has shifted away from listing arbitrage toward industry-education integration.
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