Leading private education firm New Oriental opened its first kindergarten, New Oriental Star, in Beijing on Sunday, Economic Observer reported (in Chinese). The move showed the company, which has had success operating short-term exam preparation courses, was set to explore the long-term education area. It was estimated that the potential pre-primary market size was about US$1.8 billion in the city of Beijing. New Oriental was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006, becoming the first domestic private education company to list overseas.