On March 15, China's primary state television news program featured a special report on social security initiatives at the beginning of the country's 15th Five-Year Plan period, focusing on the progress of rights protection for workers in new forms of employment. The report indicated that occupational injury protection for these workers has expanded from a pilot program to nationwide implementation. Jia Yacan, a delivery rider for Meituan, stated in an interview that he has already benefited from this protection, saying, "I will work hard to provide better services for the city's operations."
This development represents a major institutional innovation impacting approximately 84 million workers in China, including food delivery riders and ride-hailing drivers. The rapid growth of the platform economy in recent years has created a vast number of flexible jobs. However, due to the flexible nature of employment relationships and work arrangements, these workers often faced insufficient protection when suffering accidental injuries on the job. To address this, national authorities have actively promoted institutional solutions. In July 2022, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, along with other departments, launched a pilot program for occupational injury protection in seven provinces and municipalities, including Beijing and Shanghai. This program explored a model where platform companies pay premiums to cover workers in relevant industries. By July 2025, the pilot had expanded to 17 provinces. This year's Government Work Report explicitly called for the "steady and orderly expansion of the occupational injury protection pilot." On March 7, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Wang Xiaoping further announced at a press conference that the pilot program has already covered over 25 million participants and will be "further expanded nationwide" this year.
The core innovation of this occupational injury protection system lies in its design by the state for workers in new forms of employment, with premiums paid by platform companies. It decouples traditional workplace injury insurance from a fixed employment relationship, operating on a "platform pays per order, workers pay nothing" basis. This model accurately aligns with the flexible and mobile characteristics of this workforce, aiming to provide a safety net for their occupational security.
Platform companies participating in the pilot have played an active role in the policy's implementation. For instance, Meituan, one of the first participants, has cumulatively paid over 2.77 billion yuan in related premiums as of February 2026, enabling approximately 17.28 million rider registrations. When riders encounter accidents, they can easily file claims through an online process assisted by the platform, ensuring timely compensation and alleviating financial concerns.
Beyond immediate occupational safety nets, long-term welfare benefits for these workers are also being explored. Platform companies like Meituan are responding to policy direction by building multi-layered welfare security networks to meet diverse worker needs. Regarding pension security, Meituan has rolled out a pension insurance subsidy nationwide since 2025, covering 50% of the premium costs for eligible riders. This initiative is characterized by having no entry barriers and applying to all types of delivery orders, making it accessible to all riders on the platform. For housing support, Meituan has piloted "rider apartments" in cities like Beijing and Chengdu, offering rent subsidies that allow riders to live in fully-equipped apartments at significantly below-market rates, effectively easing their transitional housing pressures in urban areas. In health security, Meituan continues to upgrade its "Rider Critical Illness Care Plan," which has become the industry's first program covering all types of riders and their immediate family members for inpatient medical treatment. From its launch in 2019 to December 2025, the plan has assisted 7,570 individuals, disbursing over 210 million yuan in care funds, averaging nearly 30,000 yuan per person, with a single maximum payout of 200,000 yuan, providing a substantial health safety net.
From national policy design to pilot expansion and corporate implementation, the steady advancement of the occupational injury protection system is weaving an increasingly robust social safety net for tens of millions of workers in new forms of employment. This represents a critical step in perfecting the social security system and concretely addresses the contemporary demand to "strengthen the protection of rights and interests for workers in flexible and new forms of employment," making the efforts of these workers more secure.
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