Committee member Zhang Guanzi: Suggests to introduce regulations on social insurance participation for platform workers at an appropriate time

"The government work report for 2026 proposes to introduce policies to support flexible employment personnel and new employment form personnel in participating in employee insurance. This work has become quite urgent." During this year's National Two Sessions, Zhang Guanzi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the director of the Institute of Chinese-style Modernization at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated in an interview with The Paper that he suggests introducing regulations for social insurance participation for platform workers at an appropriate time to promote platform employees' participation in urban employee social insurance. Zhang Guanzi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the director of the Institute of Chinese-style Modernization at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Photo provided by the interviewee. Platform employment refers to a form of employment where individuals obtain job opportunities, complete work tasks, and receive compensation through internet platforms, involving workers such as ride-hailing drivers, food delivery riders, online streamers, and freelancers. "Under the accelerated development of the digital economy, new forms of employment dominated by platform employment have become one of the main channels for new job creation," Zhang Guanzi said. "Chinese-style modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all people, and the issue of insufficient social security rights for platform workers, as a typical group of new employment forms, should be resolved as soon as possible." Zhang Guanzi found in his research that platform employment is characterized by flexible working hours, dispersed work locations, and difficulty in defining labor relations. The main issue reflected in social security relations is insufficient participation in insurance. Most platform workers participate in urban and rural resident pension insurance and medical insurance, and can participate in employee social insurance in urban areas according to their personal identity, but the participation rate is low. Zhang Guanzi noted that in recent years, the state has attached great importance to the insurance participation of platform workers. The "Guiding Opinions on Maintaining the Labor Security Rights and Interests of New Employment Form Workers" issued by eight departments in 2021 pointed out that "enterprises should guide and support new employment form workers who do not fully meet the criteria for establishing labor relations to participate in corresponding social insurance based on their own circumstances." The draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan proposed strengthening employment services and protecting workers' rights and interests. In recent years, some platform companies have begun pilot programs to pay social insurance for riders, accumulating some experience in the early stages. Against this background, Zhang Guanzi suggested introducing regulations for social insurance participation for platform workers at an appropriate time. "The competent department can first study and formulate trial management measures for platform workers participating in employee social insurance, making specific provisions on issues such as which personnel, what types of insurance to participate in, participation methods, platform responsibilities, and operational procedures. It is recommended to announce this in the form of government regulations and implement it nationwide," Zhang Guanzi said. In terms of specific implementation, Zhang Guanzi suggested adopting a gradual and categorized promotion strategy to gradually expand policy coverage. For example, the pilot program for "new occupational injury insurance" could be expanded first, aiming for coverage in all provinces and expanding the insurance coverage for the platform industry. Initially, the focus could be on employee pension insurance, gradually expanding to employee medical insurance (maternity) and unemployment insurance based on conditions. In terms of participation methods, mandatory or semi-mandatory requirements could be considered for platform companies Zhang Guanzi said that for full-time riders, labor relations can be standardized, and they should participate in the "five insurances and one fund" as required; for long-term stable part-time riders, conditions regarding income or working hours can be set, implementing an automatic enrollment mechanism, where participation in social insurance is defaulted to personal identity unless the worker opposes it, with the platform company providing a certain proportion of contribution subsidies; for sporadic part-time riders with lower income, participation in social insurance can be encouraged without mandatory requirements. In addition, Zhang Guanzi suggested corresponding supporting reforms in labor relations legislation and platform industry regulation. At the same time, the social insurance system should be improved to effectively reduce the burden of participation for workers, introduce a flexible payment mechanism, and enhance the applicability to flexible employment through the improvement of the social insurance digital information platform