CW: you will probably cry and be furious and haunted for this boy's sake

Yup:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_teen_industry

If it wasnt being done by private industries, sure! But this is being done by private companies, sent there by parents who paid for it. In fact, as per the article, they have already taken measures against these private schools:

The BBC understands that Mr Li was arrested earlier this year, but we have discovered his associates have recently opened a new school.

This is still an issue, however, just not one mentioned in the article. This is commodified parental abuse.