China Launches Platform to Protect Delivery Riders’ Rights
Jiangxi Province has established its first procuratorial service station dedicated to protecting the rights of new employment groups, bringing legal services directly to food delivery riders in Nanchang. The station, launched on August 1 at the “Rider’s Home” in Zhujiahu Community Party-Mass Service Center, was guided by the Jiangxi Provincial Procuratorate and implemented by the Donghu District Procuratorate, according to People’s Daily.
Context: A Growing Workforce in Need of Protection
China has approximately 84 million new employment workers—including food delivery riders, couriers, ride-hailing drivers, and livestreamers—representing about 21 percent of the national workforce. As People’s Daily reported, these workers have historically faced significant challenges including ambiguous labor relationships, lack of social security coverage, and occupational injury risks.
The “15th Five-Year Plan” has made new employment worker protection a national priority, calling for increased social insurance participation rates for flexible and new employment workers while clarifying the contribution responsibilities of employers and platform enterprises. As of the end of March 2026, 27.42 million people had participated in the occupational injury protection pilot program that began in 2022, as China Youth Daily reported.
Key Developments: A Community-Based Approach
On August 10, officials from the Jiangxi Provincial Procuratorate, the Provincial Department of Justice, and Nanchang’s Donghu District visited the service station to inspect its operations and hear reports on achievements in rights protection assistance, conflict resolution, and legal education.
The station has established facilities including a “Legal Library” and “Rider Supply Station,” and is building files for over 1,000 female food delivery riders in the district. It is also developing an online mini-program platform to provide refined legal services to new employment groups.
On the same day, the Donghu District Procuratorate conducted a special legal education session for 20 female food delivery riders under the theme “Women’s Dreams in New Industries, Procuratorial Protection of ‘Her’ Power,” focusing on legal knowledge related to rights protection. The station also coordinated with district political consultative conference members and psychological counselors to provide mental health workshops and one-on-one counseling for female riders.
The station coordinates with multiple agencies including human resources and social security departments, labor unions, judicial administration, market supervision, and platform enterprises, establishing mechanisms for information sharing, clue transfer, and multi-party consultation. It operates both online and offline complaint channels—offline through on-site reception, and online through the 12309 Procuratorial Service Center and the “Sister Zhong” hotline.
Broader National Framework
The Nanchang initiative builds on a broader national effort to strengthen protections for new employment workers. Starting from 2025, major platforms have adopted two protection models for delivery riders: one providing “five insurances and one housing fund” for full-time riders, and another providing social security subsidies through a “pay first, subsidize later” model for crowdsourced and dedicated riders.
Nanchang has also launched the “Heart Connects New” public legal service campaign with a “five ones” working mechanism—one legal service network, one legal aid rights protection channel, one batch of legal education activities, one legal volunteer service team, and one dispute mediation platform—as detailed by the Ministry of Justice.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has been actively using public interest litigation to protect new employment workers since 2022. A one-year supervision campaign launched in December 2024 resulted in over 600 cases filed nationwide, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
Analysis: Institutionalizing Worker Protection
The establishment of this service station represents a shift from ad-hoc measures to permanent, institutionalized protection mechanisms. As Xinhua reported, the model aims to build a “permanent presence, online connectivity, multi-party coordination, and source governance” approach to new-industry rights protection.
Wang Tianyu, a researcher at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that “the series of policy measures will help improve the social security and public service system, and better protect the labor rights of new employment groups.” The station’s focus on female delivery riders is particularly notable, as women in this industry face additional challenges related to workplace safety, maternity protections, and work-life balance.
What’s Next
As the first of its kind in Jiangxi Province, the Donghu District service station may serve as a model for replication in other districts and cities. The station’s online mini-program platform is still under development, and its integration with existing national systems will be closely watched. With the occupational injury protection pilot set to expand nationwide in 2026 and the government planning to issue the “Measures for Basic Rights Protection of New Employment Workers,” the institutional framework for protecting delivery riders and other new employment workers continues to strengthen.