China’s future rests on 200 million precarious workers

They may work in factories or for delivery apps, but are united by common struggles.

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Mr Chu Xin’s search for work has taken him on a journey this summer. First he travelled some 1,500km from his home in China’s deep southwest to Shenzhen, a bustling manufacturing hub across from Hong Kong. Next was a bus another 1,500km north to Kunshan, which churns out electronics, where he twisted tiny screws into phone parts for 10 hours a day. That was mind-numbingly dull; by day five he had had enough. So he grabbed his few belongings and headed south — ready for the next stage in his odyssey.

Mr Chu’s story is in some senses extraordinary. But in others it is very ordinary. He is one of 200 million-odd people in China whom the state considers to be “flexible workers”, a broad category that includes all those who fall outside standard forms of employment.

The group makes up what is called the “gig economy”. Its members do not have formal contracts, and yet they have become a crucial part of China’s labour supply, accounting for a quarter of the total workforce and two-fifths of it in cities.

Although some of the group have moved from formal jobs to informal ones as they have aged, many are young, unattached men with dim economic prospects. Their progress, or lack of it, will set the terms for China’s future.

If they are able to settle down, buy homes and start families, they will help ease the country’s economic malaise. If not, they will cause problems for the Communist Party. They are China’s “make-or-break” workers.