China’s internet firms create at least 200 million jobs amid unemployment crisis, report finds
- Truck drivers, ride-hailing drivers and delivery riders make up the largest groups of platform workers in China, according to CyanHill Capital
- Internet platform companies have expanded the concept of ‘workers’, a term that covers high-earning influencers and well-educated programmers
China’s internet platform companies employ at least 200 million people, including both full-time employees and gig workers, showing the sector’s vital importance to the country’s economic and social stability, according to a new report by a Beijing-based venture capital firm.
Among gig workers or so-called platform workers, truck drivers comprise the biggest group at 16.5 million.
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While truck driving is a long-established occupation that plays an important role in China’s vast logistics network, the emergence of online platforms has significantly changed the way drivers take orders and improved their efficiency, the report said.
Over 70 per cent of China’s truck drivers receive at least half of their cargo volume from more than 2,500 truck-hailing platforms nationwide, according to the report.
The second-largest group of platform workers in China are ride-hailing drivers. With some 7 million active workers, it has become one of the fastest-growing occupations in the country over the past few years, the report said.
The number of new licences granted to drivers increased by 32.6 per cent in 2022, and the country has been adding new drivers this year at a daily rate that is five times higher than last year’s, the report found.
The next largest group of gig workers in China are its 5 million delivery riders, who have expanded from dispatching just food to cover also items such as groceries, medicine and flower bouquets, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.