<p>Tencent Holdings-backed Chinese education firm VIPKid said on Saturday it would stop selling classes taught by foreign-based tutors with immediate effect to comply with new rules announced for the country's private education sector.</p>.<p>China last month issued rules barring curriculum-based tutoring for profit, aiming to ease financial pressures that have contributed to low birth rates but have left private education firms facing significant business impact.</p>.<p>The rules also ban companies from employing foreign-based tutors, aiming to stop long-distance lessons for Chinese students.</p>.<p>Beijing-based VIPKid is an online education platform that connects children in China with native English-speaking teachers in the United States and Canada for live video lessons.</p>.<p>The company said in a post on its official WeChat account that existing customers will only be able to renew classes taught by overseas-based tutors until Aug. 9. It added that its international business for students outside China would not be affected.</p>.<p>Other Chinese private education firms have also been reviewing their operations as a result of the new rules. ByteDance also plans to close some of its tutoring operations, including its online classes app GogoKid, a VIPKid rival.</p>.<p>VIPKid's investors include Tencent Holdings, China's largest gaming and social media company.</p>
<p>Tencent Holdings-backed Chinese education firm VIPKid said on Saturday it would stop selling classes taught by foreign-based tutors with immediate effect to comply with new rules announced for the country's private education sector.</p>.<p>China last month issued rules barring curriculum-based tutoring for profit, aiming to ease financial pressures that have contributed to low birth rates but have left private education firms facing significant business impact.</p>.<p>The rules also ban companies from employing foreign-based tutors, aiming to stop long-distance lessons for Chinese students.</p>.<p>Beijing-based VIPKid is an online education platform that connects children in China with native English-speaking teachers in the United States and Canada for live video lessons.</p>.<p>The company said in a post on its official WeChat account that existing customers will only be able to renew classes taught by overseas-based tutors until Aug. 9. It added that its international business for students outside China would not be affected.</p>.<p>Other Chinese private education firms have also been reviewing their operations as a result of the new rules. ByteDance also plans to close some of its tutoring operations, including its online classes app GogoKid, a VIPKid rival.</p>.<p>VIPKid's investors include Tencent Holdings, China's largest gaming and social media company.</p>