Economy
China’s booming gig economy masks job market pain, strains welfare system
Bao Zhang began driving for a Chinese ride-hailing app this year after losing his job as a software tester and says the weak job market gives him little hope of returning to the tech sector.
His story is increasingly common in China, where tens of millions are shifting from formal employment into the gig economy as meager unemployment insurance, record numbers of graduates and a shortage of jobs squeeze opportunities.
“Those who used to take taxis now have to drive them themselves,” said the 30-year-old, who works from 7 a.m. until nearly midnight in Beijing to earn about 6,000 yuan ($885) a month after vehicle rental and charging costs.
The China New Employment Forms Research Center, a think tank, estimates the number of people in flexible employment – without a permanent full-time contract – rising to 320 million this year from 280 million in 2025, a cohort almost as large as the U.S. population and about 44% of China’s workforce.
Gig economy acts as China’s safety net
Analysts say China’s gig economy has become a crucial employment buffer as the property crisis wipes out construction jobs and manufacturers shed workers through automation and cost-cutting amid tariffs, overcapacity and price wars.
Increasingly, it hires educated youth and white-collar workers squeezed by weak domestic demand and AI adoption.
“The proportion is extremely high,” said Yang Zhan, a cultural anthropology expert at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. “It’s no longer limited to rural migrants and has spread to the middle class and university graduates.”
“China is upgrading manufacturing, and many industries that used to absorb large numbers of workers are being phased out. Then there is AI,” Zhan said.
China’s human resources ministry and the State Council Information Office, which answers media queries on behalf of the cabinet, did not immediately respond to comment requests.
As elsewhere, gig economy work mitigates the income shock of losing a formal job.
But in China, one government adviser said the rise of gig jobs – where social insurance contributions are not mandatory – heightens long-term risks to an inadequately funded welfare system.
A 2019 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report warned that the national pension fund could run out by 2035 as the population ages. A 2024 update said delaying retirement could push depletion back eight to nine years.
“It may not be easy to find a solution,” due to unstable incomes and contracts in the gig sector, said the adviser, suggesting Beijing should support the formal services industry to create better jobs.
Growing burden
Central government transfers that plug social insurance budget gaps roughly trebled over the last decade to about 3 trillion yuan, doubling as a percentage of total expenditure to 10%, a Gavekal Dragonomics analysis showed.
A second government adviser said further taxing gig workers, many of them rural migrants, to reduce the burden, would be “highly unreasonable.” Birth subsidies could be a preferable long-term fix, he said.
Only two of the 12 flexible workers Reuters interviewed said they were voluntarily contributing, while two others said they paid through formal part-time jobs outside their gig work. The rest said they preferred to save on their own.
“I can take control, rather than wait for decades for others to pay me,” said Angel An, 24, who earns more than the average ride-hailing driver by promoting her services to tourists in Shanghai and nearby Suzhou on social media.
Zhang suffers recurring ankle and knee pain from long hours in traffic, but has chosen not to buy medical insurance, adding that pension felt “too far away” and would be small anyway.
Gig jobs lack the pay and security many Chinese expect, said HSBC Asia economist Frederic Neumann, warning this drags on consumption and growth.
“A whole new generation is growing up unaccustomed to the security and confidence that their parents for a long time enjoyed,” Neumann said.
Low participation
A December 2025 government report found that by end-2024 only 70.6 million flexible workers were enrolled in the urban employee pension scheme, which supplements basic retirement benefits. Most migrant workers contribute small amounts only to the basic scheme, where payouts can be as low as 163 yuan a month.
There are no estimates for how many gig workers pay into all social insurance schemes – pension, medical, work injury, unemployment, maternity and housing – but the numbers are likely much lower.
A Peking University survey of 30,000 delivery workers found fewer than 10% would support mandatory social security contributions, which would cost employees about 10% of their income and employers roughly a quarter.
“The urgent priority is to make it easier for flexible workers to be included in the employee social security system,” said Nomura’s chief China economist Ting Lu, who estimates only tens of millions are fully enrolled.
“We need to reduce anxiety,” he said, “so that they save less and consume more.”
Zhan, the anthropologist, said the government faced a tough trade-off between making the industry’s employers contribute more to needed welfare improvements and preserving their ability to create jobs.
“The government very much needs the platform economy to absorb workers,” and maintain social stability, Zhan said.
Significant regulatory changes could cause “a major shock” to the industry’s profits, she added.
Wage pressures
Although China’s unemployment rate has hovered around 5%-6% for a decade, gig work has helped keep those numbers in check because anyone working even one hour a week is considered employed.
Yet an influx of gig workers is increasingly outpacing demand in some sectors, slowing incomes.
The think-tank report said China’s 16 million food delivery riders saw their income rise 11% on average to 37.3 yuan per hour in 2025, but wages shrank 1.8% for the 37.2 million ride-hailing drivers.
At least four cities, including the tech hub of Shenzhen, have issued warnings of ride-hailing market “saturation” since April.
The second government adviser said authorities only meant to raise awareness and not to prevent people from taking more such work, as “that would become a social stability issue.”
Li, a cleaner in his early 50s who delivers food until 10 p.m. for an extra 40-100 yuan a day, suspects the growing number of riders is compressing earnings per order, but has “no choice” but to keep going.
“At my age, without education, what could I possibly do? In Beijing, most college students also have to deliver food,” said Li, who only gave his surname.
Saudi Arabia and France inked on Monday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a 6-billion-euro ($7-billion) Saudi investment to construct three theme parks near Paris, including one likely to be manga-themed, the French president’s office said.
The French presidency’s Elysee Palace said the agreement for the “colossal” project was signed during a two-day visit to France by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
The investment will see the construction of three theme parks near Cergy-Pontoise, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of Paris, it said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on X hailed the “unprecedented announcement,” saying the attractions would be a “new global destination.”
The project will be led by an investment firm Qiddiya, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The parks are expected to create some 22,000 direct jobs, compared with around 20,000 generated by Disneyland Paris, according to the presidency.
The project “stemmed from a discussion between the president of the republic and the crown prince in December 2024” in Riyadh, where they discovered their “shared passion” for manga, “and in particular Dragon Ball Z,” an adviser to Macron told reporters.
Reports had emerged over the summer of plans for a park dedicated to the iconic Japanese franchise in the Val-d’Oise region, though no official confirmation was given.
Macron’s office confirmed that one park is expected to be manga-themed.
The themes of the other two have yet to be disclosed.
The parks will be built and opened in stages, with construction expected to take several years, the Elysee said, without giving an opening date.
The trip marks a rare foreign visit for the crown prince, with Paris emphasizing that he seldom leaves his home country other than for international summits.
It was his first such trip in almost a year.
On Sunday, Macron hosted the Saudi crown prince at the Esports World Cup, while Monday’s talks were also expected to focus on strategic issues, including events in the Middle East.
The Trump administration on Monday moved to introduce a new, over $100,000 fee on employers hiring foreign workers through a high-skilled visa program, after facing a legal setback in an earlier effort.
Curbing immigration, both undocumented and lawful, has been a key goal of President Donald Trump and a persistent demand of his Make America Great Again (MAGA) base.
The $103,265 fee for H-1B visas would serve as a “revenue mechanism” to recoup the costs of administering the lawful immigration system, the Department of Homeland Security said of its newly proposed rule.
The administration has argued the visa program has been exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers, and in September 2025, it issued a presidential proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee to combat what it called “systemic abuse.”
But a federal judge in June blocked that order, siding with 20 Democratic-led states in a lawsuit that contended the fee constituted an unlawful tax that bypassed Congressional authority.
Another federal judge in December 2025 upheld the same action, finding the president had “broad statutory authority” to address “a problem he perceives to be a matter of economic and national security.” That ruling is being appealed.
In the new proposal, the administration leans more heavily on cost-based arguments, saying it needs to make up the costs of its agencies, including the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
However, it also acknowledges it would have what it calls an “indirect” benefit: “U.S. employers, if required to pay an additional $103,265 fee when filing an H-1B cap-subject petition, would be less likely to hire an H-1B worker over a qualified and highly-skilled American.”
And it says the new proposed fee “would be in addition to any other applicable fees or payments,” including the fee from the presidential proclamation under legal review. However, this is set to expire this September, unless it is extended.
There will be a 30-day public comments window before any rule can take effect.
There are likely to be legal challenges based on a number of arguments, including the previously advanced theory that the new proposal is a de facto tax, and that it exceeds statutory authority.
Congress created the H-1B program in 1990, and the U.S. currently awards 85,000 H-1B visas per year.
In fiscal year 2025, 70% of H-1B workers came from India, followed by China with 12%, then the Philippines, Canada and South Korea, according to official data.
Amazon is the biggest employer, accounting for more than 9,000 approved H-1B visas in fiscal year 2026.
Past holders of H-1B visas include several prominent tech executives, including SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Critics say the new rules will leave critical shortages in different fields, including IT, engineering, education and medicine.
Türkiye and Qatar aim to lift their bilateral trade volume to $5 billion, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said on Monday as he hosted Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed, in Ankara.
“Türkiye-Qatar relations have truly made tremendous progress. Our total annual foreign trade increased 53-fold over the past 21 years, reaching $1.3 billion last year,” Bolat told reporters after the meeting.
Trade between the two countries climbed as high as $2.5 billion during preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, largely due to construction projects, he added.
Bolat said the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between Türkiye and Qatar, which entered into force last year, would make a significant contribution to achieving the $5 billion trade target.
Turkish contractors have undertaken 206 projects worth a combined $21 billion in Qatar, he also said.
Around 250 Qatari companies have investments totaling $7.8 billion in Türkiye, spanning sectors including finance, banking, energy, logistics, media and agriculture.
Meanwhile, approximately 1,116 Turkish companies of various sizes operate in Qatar’s construction, services and manufacturing sectors.
Alternative trade routes amid Hormuz disruption
Moreover, Bolat said that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the war in the region had created logistics and supply bottlenecks, highlighting the need for alternative routes.
“The current circumstances have shown that alternative routes are greatly needed to avoid dependence solely on maritime transport and the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
Türkiye is working to meet Qatar and other Gulf countries’ demand for consumer goods, Bolat noted.
Under a transit transportation agreement with Saudi Arabia that took effect on April 15, Turkish carriers have been conducting intensive shipments to Gulf countries through Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, as well as via Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
“We will work together to establish these transit and trade corridors on a stronger and more stable basis,” he said.
Bolat added that Al-Sayed conveyed the Qatar Investment Authority’s desire to expand its investments in Türkiye and said initiatives were underway in this regard.
Türkiye’s exports to Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries reached $41.5 billion in the first seven months, the Trade Ministry said Monday.
That marks an increase of $345.7 million compared to a year ago, the ministry said in a statement.
The OIC was established in 1969 to strengthen cooperation and solidarity among Islamic countries and protect common rights and interests, representing approximately a quarter of the world’s population and one-tenth of global income with its 57 member states.
The Trade Ministry is pursuing a Strategy for Developing Exports with OIC Members, which effectively supports the activities of exporters toward Islamic countries that hold an important place in the global economy.
Under the strategy, which is also included in the 2026-2028 Medium-Term Program, the share of Islamic countries in total exports, currently at 27%, is targeted to rise to 30% by 2028.
Within the scope of the strategy, 21 countries whose economic and commercial data were analyzed in detail were designated as first-phase focus countries, namely Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Algeria, Indonesia, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Jordan and Oman.
Türkiye’s foreign trade volume with OIC countries stood at $87.6 billion in 2013, increasing approximately 1.4 times to reach $119.1 billion as of 2025.
Last year, the countries with which Türkiye carried out the most trade among OIC countries were the UAE with approximately $19 billion, Iraq with $14.3 billion, Egypt with $7.9 billion and Kazakhstan with $7.9 billion.
The exchange continued to increase in the January-July period of this year.
Trade volume with OIC countries increased by 2.2% compared to the same period last year, reaching $69.2 billion, the Trade Ministry said.
The data showed Türkiye’s exports to OIC countries increased by more than 0.8% compared to the same period of the previous year.
In the January-July period, the OIC countries where exports increased the most in value terms were Egypt, reaching a total of $2.8 billion with an increase of $522.2 million; Libya, reaching a total of $2.2 billion with an increase of $438.5 million; Syria, reaching a total of $2.1 billion with an increase of $296.8 million; and Jordan, reaching a total of $1.3 billion with an increase of $227.5 million.
Inflation expectations among households and the real sector rose in August, while expectations among market participants declined, a survey by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) showed on Monday.
Market participants’ expectations for inflation in 12 months fell 0.26 percentage points to 23.69%, according to the CBRT’s Sectoral Inflation Expectations survey.
Expectations among the real sector rose 0.30 points to 32.80%, while household expectations increased 0.64 points to 45.58%.
Türkiye’s annual consumer price inflation eased to 31.75% in July 2026, down from 32.11% in June.
Last week, the CBRT adjusted its end-2026 inflation forecast upward to 28% from 26% mainly due to energy and food price pressures. But it left its interim target unchanged at 24%.
The bank also kept its interim inflation targets for end-2027 and end-2028 at 15% and 9%, respectively.
Monday’s survey showed the share of households expecting inflation to decline over the next 12 months also fell in August.
The proportion of households expecting inflation to decrease over the coming year dropped 0.78 percentage points to 16.85%.
Food, energy biggest sources of price increases
Households continued to identify food, fuel and energy as the product and service groups that experienced the largest price increases over the previous year.
These are also expected to see the strongest increases over the next 12 months.
The share of respondents identifying food as the category with the largest price increase fell 0.4 percentage points to 39.3% in August.
Households’ expectations for housing price increases over the next 12 months also moderated slightly.
The expected increase in housing prices over the coming year fell 0.36 percentage points to 32.13%.
The survey also showed a rise in expectations for the Turkish lira’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar.
The 12-month-ahead dollar/TL expectation increased by TL 1.49 from the previous month to TL 54.47.
Turkish households’ preference for gold increased in August, while the share considering real estate investments declined, according to a survey by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) Monday.
The survey showed that 41.3% of respondents said they would buy gold, up 1 percentage point from the previous month. Gold was the most preferred investment option among those surveyed.
By contrast, the share of respondents who said they would buy a home, shop or land fell 1.4 percentage points to 37.1%.
Real estate and gold have for years been traditional investment options for Turks seeking to safeguard themselves against stubborn inflation.
Türkiye’s annual consumer price inflation eased to 31.75% in July 2026, down from 32.11% in June.
Monday’s survey showed households’ expectations for inflation in 12 months time increased 0.64 percentage points to 45.58%.
Last week, the central bank adjusted its end-2026 inflation forecast upward to 28% from 26% mainly due to energy and food price pressures. But it left its interim target unchanged at 24%.
The bank also kept its interim inflation targets for end-2027 and end-2028 at 15% and 9%, respectively.
Monday’s survey also showed households continued to identify food and fuel and energy as the product and service groups that had experienced the largest price increases over the previous year.
These are also expected to see the strongest increases over the next 12 months.
The share of respondents identifying food as the category with the largest price increase fell 0.4 percentage points to 39.3% in August.
Households’ expectations for housing price increases over the next 12 months also moderated slightly.
The expected increase in housing prices over the coming year fell 0.36 percentage points to 32.13%.
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