- New Zhejiang unicorn expands from classrooms to student life planning
- Model blends school management outsourcing with AI education tools
China’s education technology sector has its first dedicated unicorn focused on school services, after Hailiang Technology Services (海亮科技服务股份有限公司) was included in Zhejiang’s 2026 unicorn rankings that came out on April 23.
The company, part of Zhejiang Hailiang Group, becomes both China’s first education tech unicorn focused on school operations and Zhejiang’s first in the sector.
Hailiang Group, a Fortune Global 500 company, ranked 442nd in 2025 with $36.2 billion in revenue, spanning education, nonferrous materials manufacturing and ecological agriculture.
Hailiang’s EdTech affiliate was one of the eight newly minted entrants into Hangzhou’s unicorn list, bringing the city’s total to 48, according to the latest ranking released at the 10th All Blossom Conference in Hangzhou on April 23.
Hailiang also joined a wider group of new unicorns included in Zhejiang’s provincial list released the same day, with a count of 58 across the province.
Hailiang Technology Services positions schools as its entry point, embedding AI-powered tools into teaching, management and student development.
Its system connects classroom activities across pre-lesson preparation, in-class instruction and post-class evaluation.
Inside schools, AI assistants support lesson planning and teaching, while classroom analytics tools generate performance reviews based on teacher-student interactions.
Digital learning tablets also design personalized study pathways for students. The Hangzhou-based company says its solutions are now deployed across more than 200 counties and districts nationwide.
Student life planning
Beyond campuses, Hailiang extends its services into long-term student development through a proprietary “e-career” AI model.
The system offers assessments covering interests, abilities and personality traits, and integrates academic data and admissions policies to generate individualized subject selection and college application guidance.
Its flagship tool, the “Xiao E” guidance assistant, is reported to achieve a 92% recommendation accuracy rate, according to Hailiang.
The company also operates more than 600 AI education agents developed with ByteDance’s cloud and AI services affiliate Volcano Engine, alongside a home-school communication platform called “Hi Jiaxiao.”
The firm primarily operates through a school management model in county-level regions, taking over operations without changing public school status or teacher employment structures.
In one cited case, an entrusted school in Ansei District, northwestern China’s Yan’an, reportedly saw a 82.5% increase in students entering first-tier universities after adoption.
Hailiang Technology Services currently runs more than 30 schools and kindergartens directly and serves over 200 counties across 28 provinces, covering around 400,000 teachers and students, supported by capital and resources from Hailiang Group and partnerships with institutions including Beijing Normal University.
However, the company has not disclosed independently verified data on penetration rates or renewal metrics for its products and services.
The Yangtzeer could not identify any verifiable sources confirming Hailiang’s claims about the reach of its service network.
