The gig economy in China

Abstract

This chapter provides a historical review of the development of China’s gig economy and the increasing presence of online platforms in recent years. It discusses the origin of the gig economy in China and the waves of development of the informal sector and explains the rise of the platforms and capital’s strengthened control of labour. China’s gig economy started with market reforms in the 1980s. The government promoted ‘individual employment’, or getihu, in the urban economy and small family plots and businesses in the countryside. In the immediate aftermath of the structural adjustments, based on a weakened working-class and continued state intervention, China entered a period of rapid capital accumulation and economic growth from the early 2000s. The sustained growth led to several changes in the gig economy and capital-labour relations in general. The informal economy started to shrink and more gig workers were absorbed by the formal sector.