The Communist Party of China may include delivery couriers, ride-hailing drivers, and influencers as delegates to its five-yearly national congress for the first time. According to guidelines issued on Saturday, Beijing is moving to keep these groups close to official ideology.
The 21st party congress is scheduled for the second half of next year. Xinhua reports that the meeting is expected to host 2,360 delegates who will vote to elect more than 300 full and alternate members of the Central Committee from a vetted list of candidates.
The party’s Organisation Department told Xinhua on Sunday that delegates should represent various fields, including business, science, technology, national defence, political and legal affairs, education, publicity, culture, public health, sports, social governance, and “new employment groups”. The department stated that grass-roots units must ensure a balance across industries, fields, and regions to achieve broad representation.
Specifically, the department noted that in regions where the new economy and new business models are well developed, and where new forms of employment have a large presence, outstanding party members from these “new employment groups” should be recommended as candidates. The Organisation Department said selecting these candidates is fundamental to the success of the congress, which is tasked with summarizing the past five years and ensuring the future goals of the party and country.
The term “new employment group” refers to gig workers. Xinhua reports that authorities define this group as workers in jobs created by the rise of the internet and digital economy, such as online marketers, food delivery couriers, and ride-hailing drivers who rely on internet platforms.
Beijing has increasingly viewed this fluid workforce as an institutional blind spot. To ensure the digital economy does not outpace political cohesion, authorities are embedding party units at delivery hubs and tech enterprises. A landmark document adopted at the fifth plenum of the 20th Central Committee, which concluded on October 29, vowed to step up party building for this group, calling for them to “listen to the party and follow the party”.
Data from last year indicates that China had approximately 84 million gig workers out of a total employed workforce of 725 million. This figure includes about 12 million food delivery riders and 7 million ride-hailing drivers. In October last year, the State Council issued guidelines to “better protect the rights and interests of workers” in this group, urging for stronger oversight, better information disclosure, and a curb on “rat-race competition”.
