Secrets of top China tutor Zhang Xuefeng, worth at least US$100 million, has 30 million fans

He offers a highly sought-after counselling service for college applications, charging each student between 12,000 and 17,000 yuan (US$1,700-US$2,300).

Although there is no guarantee of personal guidance from Zhang – it is most likely to be delivered by his team – slots for his services as far ahead as 2026 have already been booked.

“I currently own three companies. The first is about to go public, and I expect to make several hundred million yuan from the IPO. The second is valued at between 500 and 800 million yuan (US$70 million to US$110 million),” Zhang said in a 2019 lecture.

“I make hundreds of thousands annually from book royalties and millions from lecturing but you might not see me lecturing in two years because I’ll have achieved financial freedom,” he said.

Zhang has been attributed with spurring the growth of an entire industry dedicated to gaokao application assistance, with more than 1,600 companies now registered in the field.

The process of college applications in China involves a complex strategy that considers scores, universities’ admission cut-offs, and future job prospects.

Having helped about 800 students succeed in their major degree subjects and 3,000 institutions, resulting in more than two million possible combinations, Zhang’s service markets itself with the slogan: “A good score in gaokao is less important than a good application strategy.”

This year, a historically high record of 13.42 million students registered for the gaokao, an increase of 510,000 from the previous year.

Despite his success, Zhang has often found himself at the centre of controversy because of his arrogance and dogmatic remarks.

He once advised students not to apply to certain universities, for which he later publicly apologised under pressure from the institutions.

Last year, he faced a backlash from education experts for speaking against liberal arts majors.

“Study journalism? If a child insists on choosing it, I’d rather knock them out and randomly pick any other major from the catalogue, anything is better than journalism,” he said.

“All liberal arts graduates are joining the service industries – and all they need to learn is grovelling.

“Can you accept that after working for 10 years, your salary might be lower than those who scored less than you in the gaokao?” Zhang said.

However, many parents applauded his statements, finding them harsh but true. They acknowledged the difficulties liberal arts graduates face in securing positions in a fierce job market.

Parents dub Zhang a “guiding light”, believing he voices widely but silently held beliefs, and they value the “clear and simple answers” he provides.

“Many majors are unclear from their titles. But Zhang clearly explained that ‘Energy and Power Engineering’ is basically about ‘operating boilers’. It clicked for me right away,” one parent recalled.

“If only I had Zhang’s guidance during my gaokao years …,” one follower added.

“Information disparity matters, the money spent is truly worth it,” another client said.

Before capitalising on the gaokao tutoring demand, Zhang focused on graduate school entrance exams, and it was while helping a dorm mate gather exam materials that his interest in gaokao was sparked.

In 2016, his lecture video explaining how to choose majors for the top universities, went viral online, earning him fame and leading to appearances on television shows.