China’s Delivery Riders Earn More in Beijing as Platforms Adapt to Regulation

Mu Jie, 49, finished 65 grocery deliveries across Beijing after 13 hours on his electric scooter one Thursday evening. 20 per order. In the past month he averaged 85 orders daily, completed six days of more than 100 deliveries and took one day off.

Mu Jie lives in a second-floor, windowless bedsit no more than two metres wide in a north-eastern Beijing chengzhongcun village packed with migrant workers. The room contains only a mattress, a small desk and a bookshelf. He keeps two fluoro-green jackets for Xiaoxiang, the supermarket platform owned by Meituan, one of which hangs on the wall.

Mu Jie came from Hebei province after his construction business failed. His wife and children remain in their hometown. “For the sake of family, I just have to keep working,” he said. “To be honest, I’m illiterate and unskilled.

Liu Jie, 26, began his first day as a Meituan rider after moving from Henan province. He expects to earn 8000-9000 yuan a month in Beijing, compared with 4000-5000 yuan in his hometown. He can take four days off per month but said rest means no income.

“We all are here to make money. ” he said. Ren Fei, 42, started delivering for Meituan in Beijing one month ago. He previously earned 5000 yuan a month as a railway inspector in Shanxi province. During lunch and dinner rushes he runs to meet algorithm-set times because walking would make him late and cost points that reduce pay.

“When my points get low, the system automatically assigns me orders of long-distance and low-pay,” he said. More than 10 million people work as food delivery drivers across China. China’s youth unemployment rate stands at 17 per cent.

The food delivery industry was worth $US229 billion in 2024, according to Daxue Consulting. Meituan posted its first quarterly loss since 2022 by the end of 2025. In January 2026 authorities opened a probe into food delivery platforms over excessive subsidies, price wars and traffic safety.

6 billion yuan ($741 million) for operating unlicensed ghost kitchens. com replaced fines for late deliveries with a points-deduction system. Meituan has opened rest stations and subsidised housing for drivers in some cities.

Last year one of Mu Jie’s top-performing colleagues broke his thighbone after running a red light and could no longer work as a rider. ” and smashing his phone after a customer complaint.