On April 28, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions held a ceremony in Beijing to celebrate International Workers' Day and present the National May Day Labor Awards, recognizing 3,024 advanced collectives and individuals. Among the honorees were eight workers from Meituan, who received the National May Day Labor Medal, and one Meituan delivery team, which was awarded the National Worker Pioneer honor.
The individual award recipients included seven delivery riders from across the country and one frontline business manager from Qinghai. Their stories—from military veterans to female riders, from skilled champions to philanthropic enthusiasts—epitomize how workers in new forms of employment are achieving extraordinary accomplishments in ordinary roles.
To date, nine Meituan riders have been elected as delegates to provincial or higher-level party congresses, people's congresses, or trade union conferences. More than 30 have received national honors such as National Model Worker, National May Day Labor Medal, or Most Outstanding Delivery Rider, while over 70 have been recognized at the provincial level.
"This honor belongs not only to me but also to the millions of workers in new forms of employment who tirelessly navigate streets and alleys, rain or shine," said Chi Chongzhu, a Meituan rider from Fuzhou, Fujian, who spoke at the Great Hall of the People as a representative awardee. A former soldier, Chi keeps a self-made rescue rope in his delivery box. Over the years, he has repeatedly assisted and evacuated injured individuals during accidents while on delivery routes, earning him Meituan’s Pioneer Rider honor twice.
Outside work, Chi serves as vice chairman of the Meituan Fuzhou Delivery Union, where he has encouraged over 600 riders to participate in medical mutual aid programs, visited families of riders in need, and organized free health check-ups, demonstrating a continued sense of duty rooted in his military background.
Another veteran, Zhang Yafei, joined Meituan’s Huadu station in Guangzhou as a crowdsourced rider in late 2019. For him, honors serve as both encouragement and motivation, but the real value lies in working diligently and making a difference in one’s role. "In the army, my squad leader taught me how to shoot; now, I help newcomers learn the routes," Zhang said. Today, he leads a team of over 50 riders as a senior captain while continuing to learn and expand his career path. In 2023, he enrolled in Meituan’s "Riders to University" program, a partnership with the Open University of China, where he is studying modern logistics management. By the end of 2024, the program had supported 385 riders in pursuing higher education.
Delivery riding is increasingly seen as a career path with upward mobility. Among the awardees, Luo Jinbing, a business manager at Haiyouhai Network Technology (Meituan), known as "the person closest to riders," initiated a Rider Care Program that includes birthday parties, tea gatherings, and tailored training systems, helping over 100 riders transition or advance in their careers.
Collaboration between government and enterprises has enabled riders not only to settle in cities but also to pursue meaningful career growth. The Qife Delivery Center of Shandong Hanhai Network Technology (Meituan) received the National Worker Pioneer award. In recent years, thanks to a mentorship model established by the team, rider retention has reached 90%, with veteran riders of five years or more accounting for 30% of the workforce.
The growing social recognition of riders reflects ongoing efforts by authorities to protect the rights of workers in new forms of employment, as well as platforms’ proactive implementation of support measures. By December 2025, over 45,000 residential communities across 279 cities had joined the Rider-Friendly Community initiative, and more than 51,000 rider rest stations had been established.
In terms of rider protection, as of the first quarter of this year, Meituan had contributed approximately ¥2.9 billion in full premium payments for its Rider Occupational Injury Insurance, covering over 18 million riders across 17 provinces and cities. In November 2025, Meituan’s pension insurance subsidy was extended nationwide, becoming the industry’s first social security subsidy open to all types of riders. The Critical Illness Care program has provided aid to 7,570 individuals, with total assistance exceeding ¥210 million.
The header image shows Meituan rider Chi Chongzhu delivering a speech as an award representative.
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