Revealing how Liu Chuansheng, the party secretary of the Beishi University, made profits for his son

On the evening of January 18, 2022, the third episode of the five-episode TV special "Zero Tolerance", jointly produced by the Propaganda Department of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Central Radio and Television General Station, disclosed that Liu Chuansheng, former secretary of the party committee of Beijing Normal University, "used his power to illegally let his son use the Beijing Normal University signboard to develop business" during his tenure of office, and held a number of kindergartens affiliated to Beijing Normal University for profit.

The facts of this disclosed case confirm the situation previously reported in the article "Behind the Surrender of Liu Chuansheng, Former Party Secretary of Beijing Normal University" on the Economic Observer Network on July 9, 2021.

In January 2022, at least three insiders further confirmed to the Economic Observer Network reporter that Liu Chuansheng's son was named Xia Xun, who founded Beijing Nuobo Education Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Nobo Education) in 2011. The company has used the name of Beijing Normal University to open a number of kindergartens with Beijing Normal University signboards throughout the country; and, in Liu Chuansheng's tenure, Beijing Normal University has also "unabashedly" purchased products from Nobo Education Company many times, and has ranked among the company's top five customers for several consecutive years.

Noble Education was listed on the New Third Board in March 2016, stock code: 835983. In June of the same year, it obtained a Pre-A round of financing of 12 million yuan, and in June 2017, it completed another round of financing of 42.9 million yuan.

What kind of impact will Liu Chuansheng's case have on the operation and development of Nobo Education Company?

From January 18 to 19, 2022, a reporter from the Economic Observer Network repeatedly called the office of the secretary of the company's board of directors, but no one answered.

He was in charge of Beijing Normal University for 11 years before retiring to the second line at the age of 66

People familiar with Liu Chuansheng told the Economic Observer Network reporter that Liu Chuansheng, whose ancestral home is Shanxi, has parents who are both soldiers and are also "cadres from the south" (party and government cadres who worked from the north to the south during the Liberation War). In December 1950, Liu Chuansheng was born in Sichuan, hence the name "Chuansheng".

In 1953, before and after the founding of the Military Engineering College of the people's Liberation Army of Chinese (the famous "Kazakh Military Industry"),Liu Chuansheng and his family went north to Harbin. His father served as the propaganda director of the Kazakh military industry.

In 1968, at the age of 18, Liu Chuansheng joined the heilongjiang production and construction corps in the first division and one regiment. In 1970, Tsinghua University recruited the first batch of workers, peasants, and soldiers on a pilot basis; in 1972, it recruited the second batch of workers, peasants, and soldiers. As the child of a cadre, Liu Chuansheng was recruited into the school that year and studied in the department of automation.

In 1975, after graduation, Liu Chuansheng stayed on to teach at the university and served as the deputy secretary of the Youth League Committee of Tsinghua University. In 1984, she studied at the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University and obtained a master's degree.

In 2017, the official website of Tsinghua University published a self-edited article entitled "Writing Youth on the Land of the Motherland - Visiting Liu Chuansheng, a 1972 alumnus of the Department of Automation of Tsinghua University", but the article has now been deleted.

In November 1985, Liu Chuansheng was transferred to the then State Education Commission (now the Ministry of Education), and successively served as deputy director and director of the Department of Ideological and Political Work of the State Education Commission; since November 1990, he has served as the first secretary of the Education Department of the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom; since September 1994, he has successively served as deputy secretary of the party committee, vice president, acting party secretary, secretary of the party committee and vice president, party secretary and president of the China Education Newspaper and Periodicals Agency.

In February 2003, Liu Chuansheng became Minister Counsellor of the Education Division of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, and in late 2004 and early 2005, he co-founded the Confucius Institute at the University of Maryland Park, the first Confucius Institute in North America.

In June 2005, Liu Chuansheng returned to China and served as the secretary of the party committee of Beijing Normal University, with the rank of deputy minister. In November 2016, at the age of 66, Liu Chuansheng stepped down from this position for more than 11 years.

Several interviewees told the Economic Observer Network reporter that Liu Chuansheng did not step down until he was 66 years old, "it is very puzzling, the vast majority of deputy ministerial-level cadres will retire to the second line or retire at the age of 60 or 63, the main ministerial-level cadres are 65 years old, and Liu Chuansheng is 66 years old."

After voluntarily surrendering, demotion is retained as a deputy division

A number of professors of Beijing Normal University interviewed also told the Economic Observer Network reporter that during Liu Chuansheng's administration, his style of conduct and beijing normal university's "simple and quiet" style clashed quite a lot.

"She is very angry, and the scholar has no fan", and "is strong, authoritarian, and likes to be flattered by subordinates." During those years in office, the wind of flattery, pomp and brag became increasingly strong on campus, and the trend of 'bureaucratization' of universities was serious. ”

At the same time, during Liu Chuansheng's tenure, there were frequent scandals at Beijing Normal University, such as the "student Wu Yingying's fake incident", "the official Dr. Shen Peiping incident", "Qiu Jiduanjingshi porcelain incident", etc., and many outstanding teachers, including academicians of the "two academies", were lost, and most of them "angrily rushed to the crown" when they left. All of the above has caused the reputation of all the old famous schools with a history of more than 100 years to be greatly damaged.

Interviewees also said that over the years, the teachers and staff of Beijing Normal University have reported Liu Chuansheng endlessly, but for a long time, she "did not move".

One of the most serious and specific allegations involved in these reports is that Liu Chuansheng's son, in the name of Beijing Normal University, carried out the so-called "cooperative schooling" and set up kindergartens to collect money.

In February 2017, the twelfth round of inspection work of the 18th Central Committee was launched, including 29 vice-ministerial universities such as Beijing Normal University - Chinese mainland there are currently 31 vice-ministerial-level universities. Prior to this, the Central Inspection Group had already carried out inspections of Chinese Min University and Fudan University.

A cadre of beijing normal university told the economic observation network reporter, "In the inspection in 2017, there were many reports of Liu Chuansheng, but there was always no movement. Originally, everyone thought that Liu Chuansheng had retired, and it would be easy to arrest her at that time. ”

The "Zero Tolerance" program broadcast on January 17, 2022 also confirmed: "In 2017, when the Central Inspection Group inspected the Party Committee of Beijing Normal University, it received relevant feedback, and the inspection team clearly pointed out that the integrity risks in the fields of cooperative schooling and other fields were prominent, and demanded immediate rectification. Liu Chuansheng let his son's institution take off the Brand of Beijing Normal University, thinking that it was 'passed'. ”

In May 2021, the seventh round of inspection work of the 19th Central Committee began. The scope of the inspection once again included all 31 vice-ministerial-level universities. Among them, the Third Inspection Group of the Central Committee inspected and stationed at the Beijing Normal University.

On the evening of July 6 of the same year, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission announced that Liu Chuansheng had voluntarily surrendered.

The "Zero Tolerance" program disclosed this: "In 2021, the seventh round of inspection of the 19th Central Committee once again inspected Beijing Normal University, and once again pointed out that there are integrity risks in key areas and key positions such as cooperative schools. After Liu Chuansheng saw the news, he thought about it and finally decided to surrender voluntarily. ”

On the evening of December 30, 2021, the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Liu Chuansheng's behavior of "using the public resources of the colleges and universities where he works to seek profits and wealth for his relatives" and other behaviors "seriously violates the party's political discipline, organizational discipline, integrity discipline and work discipline, and constitutes a violation of the law, and does not restrain or accept after the Eighteenth National Congress of the Party, which is serious in nature and has a bad impact, and should be dealt with severely." ”

However, considering that "after Liu Chuansheng voluntarily surrendered, he was able to truthfully explain his problems, voluntarily handed over all the gains of violations of discipline and law, and in accordance with the principle of punishing the former and the latter, treating the sick and saving people, he could be given a lenient and mitigated treatment," therefore, "after the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission studied and reported to the CPC Central Committee for approval, it was decided to give Liu Chuansheng the punishment of expulsion from the party, adjust his retirement benefits according to the sixth-level staff, and confiscate his income from violations of discipline and law." ”

A discipline inspection system official told the Economic Observer Network reporter that Liu Chuansheng was actually "released" around December 22, 2021. Beijing Normal University belongs to public institutions, and the six-level staff of public institutions, the corresponding administrative level is the deputy department level. Therefore, Liu Chuansheng was demoted from enjoying the treatment of cadres at the deputy ministerial level to the treatment of deputy department level.

Xia Xun, son of Liu Chuansheng, founded Nobo Education Company

At least three insiders further confirmed to the Economic Observer Network reporter that Liu Chuansheng's platform for making profits for his son is a company called Nobo Education.

Liu Chuansheng's son, Xia Xun, was born in Beijing in February 1978. His biography is quite beautiful: from September 1995 to June 1999, Xia Xun studied software engineering at Beijing University of Technology. From August 1999 to June 2002, he was a network engineer at the China Internet Network Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; from August 2002 to July 2004, he studied at Tu Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and obtained a Master of Science degree in Media and Information Engineering in Computer Science; from August 2003 to July 2004, he was a researcher at Philips Research Laboratory; from August 2004 to July 2006, he was a researcher at George Mason University Visiting Scholar in the Department of Education, University; Visiting Scholar in the Department of Computer Science at George Washington University from August 2005 to July 2006; and Ph.D. in Education from Columbia University from September 2006 to June 2010.

Xia Xun's many social part-time jobs also include the deputy director of the Siegler Innovative Learning Center of Beijing Normal University and the director of the preschool education guidance and service platform of China Teachers' Daily.

From 1994 to 2003, Liu Chuansheng held a leading position in China Education Newspaper.

Xia Xun may have valued his study experience at Columbia University, and in March 2011 he incorporated a company in Beijing called "Gotha Noble (Beijing) Education Technology Co., Ltd." At the beginning of its establishment, he held a 60% stake in it.

In August 2015, Nuober (Beijing) Education Technology Co., Ltd. changed its name to Beijing Nuobo Education Technology Co., Ltd. ("Norbo Education").

In December 2015, Noble Education announced the "Public Transfer Prospectus" on the New Third Board and was listed in March 2016.

At that time, Xia Xun directly held 50.10% of the company's shares, and through Beijing Yutianxing Investment Center (Limited Partnership) held 8.35% of the company's shares, a total of 58.45% of the company's shares.

In June 2016, three months after its listing, Noble Education announced that it had received a Pre-A round of financing of 12 million yuan. In 2017, it announced the completion of a Series A financing of 42.9 million yuan , which was led by the National Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Development Fund affiliated to the Ministry of Finance and co-managed by dtEx Capital and Chinese Online Chinese Education Industry Fund.

As of the end of June 2021, the SME Development Fund (Jiangsu Nantong Limited Partnership) holds 12.8874% of the shares of Noble Education, which is the third largest shareholder; Chinese Online holds 7.1597% of the shares, making it the fourth largest shareholder. Xia Xun directly holds 48.8369% of the equity of the company, and indirectly holds 3.9855% of the equity through Beijing Yutianxing Investment Center (Limited Partnership), and is still the controlling shareholder.

Before and after the listing of Nobo Education Company on the New Third Board, Xia Xun won honorary titles such as "2016 Top Ten Innovative Figures in China's Economy" and "Top Ten Innovative Figures of the New Third Board"; Nobo Education was also rated as "Top Ten Innovative Enterprises in China's Economy" and "Top Ten Innovative Enterprises in the New Third Board".

From selling products to opening kindergartens under the guise of Beijing Normal University

According to the "public transfer prospectus" of Nobo Education, the company's main business is to "provide preschool education software customization, consulting and training services for kindergartens, government education authorities and educational institutions". Its sales model is, "strategic cooperation with Beijing Normal University and China Teachers Daily, sharing the existing customer resources of the two units, and expanding the target cooperation customers by participating in the relevant activities of the two units."

The "Public Transfer Prospectus" also discloses that Beijing Normal University has been one of the main customers of Noble Education for several consecutive years. In 2013, the Information Network Center of Beijing Normal University, which belongs to Beijing Normal University, was the second largest customer of Nobo Education, contributing 32.67% of its operating income; in 2014, the Information Network Center of Beijing Normal University was the third largest customer of Nobo Education, contributing 12.78% of its operating income; in 2015, it was the fifth largest customer, contributing 3.75% of its operating income.

The contents of Nobo Education's sales to the Information Network Center of Beijing Normal University include "software customization" and "pre-school special topic construction".

In addition, Noble Education operates nearly twenty kindergartens throughout the country through direct operation or entrusted management. According to various public publicity materials of Nobo Education Company in the early years, some of the kindergartens were originally hung with the words Beijing Normal University. For example, the Exhibition Road Branch of the Beijing Normal University Experimental Kindergarten located in the Xicheng District of Beijing, the Beijing Normal University Affiliated Beijing Nobo Longyuwan Kindergarten located in Chengdu, Sichuan, the Nobo Kindergarten affiliated to Langfang North Normal University in Langfang, Hebei Province, and so on.

The exhibition road branch of the Experimental Kindergarten of Beijing Normal University, which opened in September 2012, was declared to be a "kindergarten jointly founded by Beijing Normal University and the Xicheng District Education Commission" and "can be found on the official website of the Experimental Kindergarten of Beijing Normal University". But in fact, it is a private kindergarten operated and managed by Nobo Education.

The "Zero Tolerance" program broadcast on January 17, 2022 disclosed: "At that time, cooperation with Beijing Normal University to run schools needed to be handled by a special cooperation office, and there were prescribed procedures, and it was also necessary to pay a certain fee to Beijing Normal University. But Liu Chuansheng bypassed the procedure and arranged for his subordinates to help his son open the first kindergarten in violation of the law. ”

The program also said, "By 2015, Liu Chuansheng felt that he was about to retire and decided to take advantage of the power to completely pave the way for his son", for which "Liu Chuansheng also asked his subordinates to authorize the brand of the kindergarten affiliated to Beijing Normal University to be used by her son's company at one time." ”

Liu Chuansheng appeared in the show: "Signed an agreement, that is, a strategic agreement, he (that is, his son Xia Xun) can go to the listing, can hang the brand of the Beijing Normal University Kindergarten, he has become an agent." ”

However, "this so-called 'strategic agreement' was signed privately in violation of the law and was not approved by the Beijing Normal University." Subsequently, Liu Chuansheng's son opened the 'Kindergarten Affiliated to Beijing Normal University' in many places across the country. ”

Li Ming, a staff member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission, also pointed out in the "Zero Tolerance" program, "Hanging up the sign of Beijing Normal University means that this kindergarten has a relatively stable guarantee in terms of enrollment and later development. ”

In November 2016, liu Chuansheng, 66, was dismissed from his post as party secretary of Beijing Normal University.

In 2017, the Central Inspection Group entered the Beijing Normal University to carry out inspections.

The "Zero Tolerance" program disclosed: "In 2017, when the Central Inspection Group inspected the Party Committee of Beijing Normal University, it received relevant feedback, and the inspection team clearly pointed out that the integrity risks in the fields of cooperative schooling and other fields were prominent, and demanded immediate rectification. Liu Chuansheng let his son's institution take off the Brand of Beijing Normal University, thinking that it was 'passed'. ”

This kind of "taking off the brand of Beijing Normal University" is embodied in the kindergartens around the nobo education, removing the word "beijing normal university" and renaming it "so-and-so nobo kindergarten".

In July 2017, Nobo Education Co., Ltd. registered and established Nobo Kindergarten in Xicheng District, Beijing. The predecessor of this kindergarten is the original "Beijing Normal University Experimental Kindergarten Exhibition Road Branch".

A businessman who has participated in the negotiation of the construction of the kindergarten affiliated to Beijing Normal University told the Economic Observer Network reporter that many of these kindergartens held by Nobo Education Company are not officially recognized by Beijing Normal University, but he (Xia Xun) can often pull the school leaders of Beijing Normal University to the platform. ”

The "Zero Tolerance" program disclosed: "In 2021, the seventh round of inspection of the 19th Central Committee once again inspected Beijing Normal University, and once again pointed out that there are integrity risks in key areas and key positions such as cooperative schools." After Liu Chuansheng saw the news, he thought about it and finally decided to surrender voluntarily. ”

Liu Chuansheng said to himself in the program, "When I first inspected, I actually pointed out the problem of (running a kindergarten in violation of the law), and I was actually very afraid, because this matter was a violation of discipline and law. When I visited again in 2021, there was this reflection again, so I think this matter is already very big, and I don't think there can be any luck. ”

The "Zero Tolerance" program also mentioned that "after Liu Chuansheng surrendered, her son strictly rectified the educational institutions to which he belonged, and took the initiative to hand over the proceeds of violations of discipline and law." ”

How exactly did Noble Education "strictly rectify"? What is the "income from the payment of violations of discipline and law" that they voluntarily surrender? What impact will the Liu Chuansheng incident have on the company's subsequent operation and development?

So far, Nobo Education has not disclosed any announcements.

From January 18 to 19, 2022, a reporter from the Economic Observer Network repeatedly called the office phone of the secretary of the company's board of directors, but no one answered.