(Yicai) Aug. 14 -- Several branches of New Oriental Education & Technology Group, a Chinese training giant, deny providing any prohibited primary and secondary school education after the Hangzhou branch has been investigated by regulators.

Branches in Beijing and Shanghai say they have not been organizing any classes of primary and secondary school curricula, The Paper reported today after a bureau of education in Hangzhou was reported to have formed a team to investigate whether the Beijing-based company was offering services related to high school subjects. Classes in Hangzhou are suspended until further notice, customer service staff said.

In 2021, the government banned after-school tutoring supposed to prepare students for entrance exams or tests in subjects such as Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, politics, and history to ease children's burdens. After that, big brands such as New Oriental and Xueersi, shifted their focus to other areas such as foreign languages and adult education.

New Oriental is quickly transforming as the company launched its live-streaming platform Oriental Selection in November 2022. Moreover, in July, the firm said it will enter the industry of culture and tourism to diversify.

Shares of New Oriental [NYSE: EDU] were 0.4 percent down in after-hours trading as of 2 p.m., following a 2.8 percent drop to USD52.80 on Aug. 11.

Editor: Emmi Laine