China's gig economy

In China, nearly half the workforce—320 million people—now works in what the government calls “flexible employment,” meaning they are not on full-time, permanent contracts. That number has doubled since 2019 and is roughly the size of the entire US population. As Reuters lead China writer Marius Area explains, this is not just a story about app-based delivery drivers and ride-hailing. It is a structural feature of the world’s second-largest economy, one that acts as both a shock absorber for a slowing job market and a growing source of financial fragility for the people inside it.

What “gig economy” means in China

The official Chinese definition of the gig economy is broader than in most countries. It covers everyone not on a traditional full-time contract: factory workers, construction laborers, self-employed freelancers, and platform workers alike. This is a legacy of China’s rapid urbanization. As rural migrants flooded into cities over the past few decades, they built skyscrapers, highways, and staffed the world’s largest industrial complex—often without formal contracts or long-term job security. “This has been part of the story of the very impressive Chinese development,” Area notes. But the profile of the typical gig worker is shifting. While the classic image is a male migrant from the countryside, increasingly the workers are younger, better educated, and urban.