Hebei Shijiazhuang Vocational College of Technology’s bankruptcy restructuring has drawn attention from the public. Some employees in the college’s logistics department have not been paid, and they revealed that the reason for the bankruptcy was that Chairman Li Yulong fled with the funds.
The Hebei Enterprise Bankruptcy Administrators Association announced on September 8 that the Shijiazhuang Vocational College of Technology has filed for bankruptcy restructuring and is publicly recruiting investors for the restructuring, with the announcement period expiring on September 22. The announcement indicated that the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court accepted bankruptcy reorganization applications for the Shijiazhuang Vocational College of Technology (referred to as “the college”), Shijiazhuang Zerui Education Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Zerui Education”), and Shijiazhuang Zerui Business Development Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Zerui Business”) on July 30, August 19, and September 2, 2025, respectively. The Shijiazhuang Vocational College of Technology Liquidation Group was designated as the administrator for the college, while the liquidation group of Shijiazhuang Zerui Education Technology Co., Ltd. and Shijiazhuang Zerui Business Development Co., Ltd. were designated as the administrators for Zerui Education and Zerui Business, respectively. The announcement concluded that the administrators of the college, Zerui Education, and Zerui Business are currently jointly recruiting restructuring investors.
On September 22, the Chinese media outlet “Extreme News” reported that the school has found restructuring investors, and it is now under government management, assuring that normal teaching activities will not be affected, and students can attend classes as usual.
According to information, the College, Zerui Education, and Zerui Business are all subsidiaries of the Hong Kong-listed private education group – China 21st Century Education Group (referred to as “21st Century Education,” stock code: 1598.HK).
The Chairman of “21st Century Education” is named Li Yulong, who also serves as the Chairman of the College, holding 65.20% of the group’s voting shares. He had previously pushed for campus expansion and vocational education asset acquisitions at the Shijiazhuang Vocational College of Technology and transferred 61.82% of the shares into a family trust in 2020 to complete governance restructuring.
The bankruptcy liquidation has led to employees in the college’s logistics department being expelled from the school directly, and they are still owed wages with no resolution in sight.
One of the employees, Xia Tong (pseudonym), from the Luquan campus, revealed to a reporter that the fundamental reason for the government’s bankruptcy liquidation of the college is that Li Yulong absconded with the funds to Canada. However, the exact amount of missing funds remains unknown.
“This school’s teaching itself is not a problem. The issue lies in the owner having many assets under his name, including involvement in illegal deposit-taking, and eventually, the owner ran away with the money. Anyway, the boss owes a lot of people money now,” Xia Tong said.
Epoch Times attempted to verify the information with the college, but no one answered the phone calls.
According to Xia Tong, employees of the logistics department have been working at the College for over a decade, providing logistical services at the Luquan and Gaoyi campuses, including catering management, security, fire monitoring, landscaping, maintenance, equipment upkeep, and sanitation services.
Xia Tong further mentioned that although their logistics department has its own separate company, their organizational structure has always been parallel to the school, and they have always been in service of the college.
“This year, after the so-called bankruptcy liquidation team arrived, they claimed not to recognize us as part of the school and refused to meet with us,” Xia Tong said.
On July 25, the government workgroup entered the Luquan and Gaoyi campuses. The employees had been cooperating with the workgroup, but on August 15, they were informed to pack up and leave, not allowing them to re-enter the campus. Additionally, employees at the Gaoyi campus were expelled from the college without their personal items being accounted for in early August.
Xia Tong stated that dozens of expelled employees are owed wages ranging from four to five months, with her being owed an amount of 20,000 yuan.
Moreover, Xia Tong disclosed that besides unpaid wages, the company had forced them to purchase union trusts during their employment. If employees refused, they were pressured to resign. Almost all employees bought them, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan, with Xia Tong herself purchasing 30,000 yuan. “(We were) coerced to pool funds with the promise that we will receive the money upon resignation, with documents to support it. Yet, no one acknowledges this matter up to now.”
Employees have been advocating for their rights and seeking answers. They have tried calling the workgroup and blocking the school entrance but to no avail, leaving them feeling helpless.
The College is a full-time provincial ordinary institution of higher learning located in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, covering an area of nearly 1626 acres with a building area of 450,000 square meters. It is considered one of the most beautiful campuses in Hebei Province’s garden units and “the most beautiful campus” among the schools stationed in Shijiazhuang, with over 20,000 full-time students.