China can’t afford to ignore its army of gig workers

PIVOTINGTOA tech-driven growth model after the collapse of the property sector is asensible move for China.

- JULIANA LU

The strategy has helped Beijing win a trade truce with Washington. But it may take years for the country’s industrial giants to mature enough to create enough jobs.

In the meantime, some 200 million people — equivalent to about 40% of the urban labour force — are stuck in the gig economy. That experience lies at the core of writer Hu Anyan’s bestselling memoir J Deliver Parcels in Beijing, a raw, darkly comical work newly available in English. The book takes readers behind the scenes of an e-commerce worker’s daily grind. It affirms the need for Beijing to give legal protections, health insurance, and social security benefits to these workers. It’s an idea that is likely to find support from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., JD.com Inc. and Meituan, a trio of delivery giants trying to add drivers as they battle for market share. They are already offering more benefits than mandated by the state.