China is accelerating regulatory reforms to strengthen social protections for its massive gig economy workforce, with new measures targeting rights protection, income stability, and benefit coverage for flexible workers. The initiative represents a significant policy shift addressing the growing contingent of delivery personnel, ride-hailing drivers, and other platform-based workers estimated to exceed 200 million people.
The State Council presented a comprehensive work report to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee detailing progress in safeguarding non-traditional employment rights. Government agencies have implemented multi-faceted approaches including enhanced working standards, algorithmic oversight reforms, and experimental social insurance programs specifically designed for gig workers.
A landmark achievement is the specialized work-related injury insurance program launched in 2022, which has expanded to 17 pilot provinces and 11 participating companies, covering approximately 23.25 million workers by October 2025. The innovative program calculates premiums based on completed orders rather than traditional employment relationships.
Concurrently, pension and medical insurance participation barriers have been reduced, resulting in 70.57 million flexible workers enrolled in basic pension insurance and 66.16 million in medical insurance by end-2024. Human Resources and Social Security Vice-Minister Wu Xiuzhang emphasized these developments create unprecedented security for previously vulnerable workers.
Despite substantial progress, challenges persist including income instability and protection gaps. Future measures will strengthen supervision of payment rights, rest periods, and workplace safety while developing collective bargaining mechanisms tailored to platform-based employment. The government also plans to enhance legal frameworks and dispute resolution channels to ensure comprehensive worker protection in the evolving digital economy.