China regulators call for stronger labour rights

China’s delivery platform companies including Meituan and Alibaba’s Ele.me recently joined a meeting with government regulators on improving safety and labour rights for delivery workers.

Food delivery platforms, in the spotlight due to China’s regulatory reforms, have attracted severe criticism on social media for their treatment of delivery workers, most of whom are not covered by basic social and medical insurance.

The meeting included officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, according to a Saturday notice on WeChat by the Ministry of Emergency Management, which also attended.

Firms should strengthen safety and labour rights protections, and not set performance indicators which harm the health of workers, according to the meeting.

Alibaba Group, its supermarket operator Hema Xiansheng, Dada Nexus Ltd and other firms also joined the meeting and reported on their efforts to improve safety and labour rights.

Investors believe a major shift is under way in China as the government aggressively pursues reform aimed at cutting cost-of-living pressures at the expense of businesses, roiling stock markets.