China has backed the world’s first international labour convention protecting gig economy workers, despite continuing to prosecute delivery riders who organise for many of the rights the new convenant seeks to guarantee.
Last month, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the Decent Work in the Platform Economy Convention (Convention No. 193), setting out global standards for platform work. China voted in favour of the convention, which calls on governments to ensure fair pay, occupational safety, social protection, transparency in algorithmic management, and workers’ rights to organise and bargain collectively.
The vote has highlighted an apparent contradiction between Beijing’s support for international labour standards and its treatment of labour organisers at home.
One of the best-known examples is Chen Guojiang, a Beijing food delivery rider who became a leading voice for platform workers after founding the Delivery Riders’ Alliance in 2019. The informal network helped riders share legal advice, exchange information about working conditions and coordinate collective action.
Ahead of China’s annual Singles’ Day shopping festival that year, Chen encouraged riders to stop accepting deliveries in protest against repeated cuts to delivery fees imposed by the country’s largest food delivery platforms, Meituan and Ele.me. He was detained for 26 days.
In early 2021, Chen again drew national attention after accusing Ele.me of changing the rules of its Lunar New Year bonus scheme, raising performance targets after workers had already committed to meeting them. The controversy triggered widespread public criticism, prompting the company to apologise and promise compensation.
Months later, Chen was arrested by police and charged with “picking quarrels and casuing trouble”, a broadly defined public order offence that rights groups say is frequently used against activists, lawyers and labour organisers. His case has become emblematic of the risks faced by workers attempting to organise independently in China.
The pressure on labour activism has also extended beyond China’s borders.
Earlier this year, Earlier this year, on the eve of the anniversary of Hong Kong’s 1 July handover, the Riders’ Rights Concern Group abruptly announced its dissolution, citing mounting political pressure. The group’s closure was widely seen as linked to a series of spontaneous strikes by food delivery riders in recent years, although no official explanation was given.
The pressure has also been felt overseas. Chinese delivery riders working for HungryPanda in Sydney were preparing industrial action over pay cuts and the company’s opaque algorithmic management system. Before the planned strike could take place, several workers said they received phone calls from Chinese police warning them not to participate. Some reported that relatives in China were subsequently summoned for questioning.
Australia’s ABC verified records of the phone calls, prompting concern from trade unions and politicians. Academics described the incident as an example of transnational repression, with Chinese authorities allegedly seeking to discourage labour organising overseas through intimidation.
The cases come as China grapples with the rapid expansion of platform work. Official estimates suggest around 320 million people are engaged in flexible forms of employment, many through digital labour platforms.
In response to growing criticism over working conditions, Beijing has introduced pilot schemes requiring platform companies to purchase occupational injury insurance for delivery riders on a per-order basis.
Labour advocates, however, argue that the reforms fall well short of the protections envisioned by the new ILO convention. Most platform workers in China are still not legally recognised as employees under the country’s Labour Law, excluding them from benefits such as pensions, medical insurance, unemployment protection, maternity insurance and housing funds. They also remain unable to establish independent trade unions or engage in meaningful collective bargaining.
The ILO convention sets out broader protections than workplace injury compensation alone. It calls on governments to safeguard freedom of association, collective bargaining, fair remuneration and transparency in the algorithmic systems increasingly used to allocate work and assess performance.
For critics, China’s endorsement of the convention has sharpened questions about the gap between its international commitments and domestic practice. While supporting stronger protections for platform workers on the global stage, authorities continue to detain labour organisers, restrict independent worker networks and, according to allegations documented in Australia, extend pressure beyond the country’s borders.
Whether the convention leads to meaningful improvements for China’s millions of gig workers may ultimately depend less on how Beijing votes in Geneva than on whether workers are allowed to organise and advocate for their rights without fear of retaliation.