- Scale. A new Chinese government draft would set minimum-wage floors, working-hour limits and algorithm-transparency requirements for more than 200 million gig workers in delivery, ride-hailing and livestream commerce.
- Fact. The 54-article proposal bars platforms from using “abnormal data” as performance benchmarks and requires apps to automatically stop dispatching orders when a daily hour limit is reached.
- Deadline. Beijing has set 2027 as the target for standardising platform labour practices across China, and Didi, Alibaba and JD.com have already announced compliance pledges ahead of final rules.
Seven Chinese government agencies published a 54-article draft of new platform labour rules this week, opening a public comment period through November 8 in the most detailed attempt yet to regulate the algorithmic relationship between China’s gig economy companies and their workers. The draft covers delivery riders, ride-hailing drivers and the streaming-commerce workers who have become central to China’s domestic logistics sector, according to reporting by The Next Web. More than 200 million workers fall within its scope.
What the Rules Require
The draft centres on three core obligations. First, platforms must pay at least the applicable local minimum wage, plus premium pay for public-holiday work. Second, companies must negotiate maximum consecutive order-taking periods and maximum daily working hours with unions or worker representatives. When a worker hits the agreed limit, the app must automatically stop dispatching orders and send a rest notification — a direct challenge to the system that delivery platforms have used to keep workers cycling continuously through shifts. Third, platforms must give workers meaningful input into the algorithms governing task assignment, pay structures, incentives and penalties. Companies must share the information needed for those negotiations if a union requests it.
The draft also bars the use of “abnormal data” — peak-performance readings achieved under unsustainable conditions — as ordinary benchmarks. This provision directly targets practices documented in Chinese food-delivery platforms, where estimated delivery times have been calibrated to speeds only achievable by workers running through traffic at risk of injury.
Corporate Pledges Ahead of the Rule
Several major platforms have announced early commitments in anticipation of the regulation. Didi pledged ¥1.1 billion (approximately $152 million) in driver subsidies. Alibaba committed to covering at least 50% of social security contributions for its delivery riders. JD.com said it would extend full social benefits to full-time riders. SF Express announced ¥200 million ($28 million) for worker income support. Meituan and Ele.me, which dominate China’s food-delivery market, also announced expanded social security provisions. These pledges track a higher-level framework the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee and the State Council published in April 2026, which established the 2027 standardisation target and called for written contracts, wage standards and algorithm consultation across the platform economy.
A Model Other Regulators Are Watching
China’s approach contrasts with the fragmented state of platform-labour regulation elsewhere. Congress has not enacted federal gig-worker standards in the United States. The EU’s Platform Work Directive, which entered force in 2024, established a rebuttable presumption of employment — but focused on legal status rather than algorithmic governance. Beijing’s draft goes further by specifying process requirements for algorithm design, a form of regulation that China has shown willingness to apply against technology companies when political conditions call for it. Whether the November 8 comment period produces substantive changes to the draft, or represents principally a formal step before finalisation, will be closely watched by labour policymakers and platform operators worldwide.