Meituan, China’s largest on-demand local services provider, said its 7.45 million delivery workers drew 80 billion yuan (US$11.3 billion) in total income from the platform last year, company co-founder and chief executive Wang Xing said in an internal letter on Tuesday.
About 4.5 million of those delivery workers are also covered with insurance for occupational injury, a nationwide pilot programme that was initiated in 2022 for people in gig-economy jobs, according to the letter.
The internal announcement by Wang – with a net worth of US$10.4 billion as of September 18, according to Forbes – reflects Meituan’s efforts to address mainland policymakers’ concerns over the welfare of the country’s gig-economy workers, which include freelancers, food delivery riders, live-streaming broadcasters and ride-hailing drivers.
Officially tagged as “flexible employment”, gig work is not bound by formal employment contracts and includes part-time and temporary jobs.
