While the nation gets ready to power down for spring festivals, some workers are powering up.
They're skipping their family banquet to deliver yours.
Guard the temple fairs and keep the city humming through the holiday lull.
We meet the new wave of urban stayers, choosing holiday shifts over hometown reunions and cashing in on the busiest downtime of the year.
After that, a new private academy in the United States, in Silicon Valley and other locations, is shaking up the education world.
It's promising to condense a full day of school into just two hours.
For 65000 a year.
Each student gets an individual AI tutor in place of a traditional classroom teacher, a model that aims to shatter the century-old one-size-fits-all approach to education.
We're live from our studios in Beijing.
This is Roundtable.
I'm Steve.
Thanks for sharing your time with us today.
And for the show, I'm with Fei-Fei and Yushan.
Up first.
The spring festival is just a few days away.
It is really just around the corner.
And while millions surge home in the annual migration, a very different kind of buzz is lighting up China's biggest cities.
In the big ones, in the big cities, the gig economy, it's not slowing down for the holidays at all.
In fact, it's hitting peak season.
Those who are choosing to stay or at least delay their trip home are cashing in on festive bonuses and short-term roles in logistics, temple fare security, catering and much more.
What used to be informal roadside job hunting has transformed into organized warm hubs complete with hot meals, digital rights protection and even holiday gift packs.
We're going to talk about how the cities are staying wide awake during the holiday rush Fei-Fei and Yushan and how they're turning downtime into payday.
And I guess we'll talk about some different examples, but we'll start here in Beijing, since that's where we are.
Yeah.
And it's really excited if you think about it, because the city never truly shut down throughout the year.
And this is where it's heading for the gig economy too, because Beijing's 18 official gig markets are operating on a full year round scale.
No closings.
And that's the policy they're operating based on right now.
And specifically the famous Ma Jiuqiao market, recently kicked off a warm winter campaign to make sure all kinds of jobs keep flowing right through the spring festival season.
Tell us a little bit about that market, if you don't mind.
It's a famous one, yes?
Yeah, it's a famous one that's previously a local hub, transportational hub in northern china.
It's based in beijing, but people from all over china, especially the northern part, will travel to this place for logistics distribution, distribution and stuff, and it used to be a loosely taken care of spot where people from wherever you name it just gather together and hire people or look to be hired.
And it's been like that for many, many years.
And only until recent years, around 2022, when the government and also the Chinese officials, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, they have started to roll out policies to really regulate and send out guidelines on how things should be done regarding gig job seeking and gig job hiring.
So that's how it turns out to be the Ma Juchao gig economy or the gig market that we're talking about now.
Yeah, I remember there is a saying in Beijing.
It's called well in English translation if you fall on any hardships in your life, you go to Ma Juqiao.
Really?
Yeah, it's like meaning you run into any hardships, especially when it comes to your career and income.
Ma Juqiao is the place where you can find like day paid jobs.
But in the past I think that area is kind of a kind of a very chaotic place because people just sitting by the street side with a cardboard in their hand and writing um with cardboard writing on what kind of jobs they're going to take, and whoever the contractors, come and then be sort of like yelling in the crowds i'm looking for this kind of a job and then the crowds will rush into that contractor, be like me me, me.
It's kind of a.
It's like day work, day job.
Yeah.
So that's why, around the time that Yushan mentioned 2022 2023, they converted a disused parking lot into a true, like housed job market platform, so that people, first of all, don't have to stay outside especially, you know, in these temperatures.
Sure.
This though, is pretty important.
What's happening now?
Because this is the first time beijing has launched a citywide what they're calling a warm winter job delivery and dual festival employment stabilization campaign across all its gig markets.
So during the holiday spring festival holiday, These markets will remain open without any interruption at all.
And that's what we're talking about here.
These people, these workers who choose to perhaps delay their trips home, delay the migration, if you will, and earn some extra cash.
Put some more money in their pocket while they're staying here in the city.
So any examples of the types of jobs that we're talking about specifically?
Oh yeah, all kinds of jobs are being covered here, including logistics, sorting property, security like security guards outside of communities work like factory assembly work, hotel and catering services, and also domestic housekeeping.
So this is what's been reported in the beijing case and, based on the demand in previous spring festival periods, the Magical Market official also predicted that there is typically strong hiring for temple fair security staff, like you mentioned earlier Steve, because Spring Festival is the time when temple fairs are being held all around the city.
And then, of course, there's restaurant servers in need and supermarket service workers.
So there's one interesting example.
So this is um a hirer from a beijing-based resource technology company saying that we're mainly recruiting for warehouse sorting, cable stripping and community event support, and wages are paid daily And it's around 200 yuan per day, which is higher than average.
Yeah.
And that's why for a lot of people during the holiday season, that they won't go back to their hometown or they delay their holiday is precisely because of the payment.
They'll get more during the holiday season than they would during the normal time.
Yes.
And I think, according to one of the worker who is looking for a job, he is from the central Hubei province.
And he said he's looking for.
He's at the job market and has been looking with a number of companies.
And he said the reason that he is not going home for this Chinese New Year is because precisely because the pay is much higher.
And, for example, with some platforms, for example offering, I think, 6000 yuan per If you met certain job load and you were able to earn that six thousand, that's like a month salary.
Yeah, right.
So the scale is pretty big then.
So this market, since it opened up.
And when did it open up?
It wasn't that long ago, right?
Yeah, I think since it started operating this warm winter campaign earlier in mid-January this year, over 60 companies showed up offering over 3000 positions in one go.
And yeah, the city is expecting to hold about 500 recruitment fairs with roughly 150000 job openings open.
That's posted during this period.
And that's all, all the above data I mentioned, that's all for the Magical One market.
Yeah, that's for one spot, right?
So then for the workers who are, because nothing's guaranteed, right?
They're not planning to stay in the city.
And we're going to give other examples too, but they're not planning to stay here, because it's a guaranteed position.
They're planning to stay because they might get some work.
But, that being said, it is very, very promising because of the number of positions that are available.
Yeah, and I think, especially around this time of the year, for example, in logistics, in the packages, the online shopping orders that we are placing right now, I can sense that this year this kind of delivery is not as slow as before.
Like in the past, I think, one week before the Spring Festival really started.
A lot of the online shops, they'll tell you you may not be able to get your parcels before the holiday simply because we don't have so many people to transport, to do the shipping, to do the sorting and then to do the delivery.
But now I'm still placing orders online and I'm still receiving packages every day.
So you can see that, even though it's not like a guaranteed job, meaning that if you go to Magical you will land a job guaranteed by the government or by the company, but the chance is pretty high simply because the demands are there.
And another really keen example that you just reminded me of Fei-Fei is that about three weeks ago I placed an order from a Tmall buyer that's based in Canada.
And I purchased something from locally in the Canada supermarket.
And the buyer.
Just like what you said, Feifei told me that oh, there's going to be a delay due to the spring festival season.
And you'll probably receive the parcel after February, in early March.
I'm like, it's actually fine.
But you know what?
It got delivered this morning.
Yeah, that's how things are changing these days.
What did you get from a Canadian supermarket, by the way?
Protein powder.
Oh, okay.
A large jar of protein powder.
Okay, all right.
I don't know if Canada's known for its protein powders or if it is.
Some of your brands are really nice, by the way.
Okay, I'll have a look.
Yeah, the director of the gig market services division from the Beijing Employment Promotion Center said that last year's gig market successfully facilitated 420000 job placements and that added up to about 93 million yuan in labor payments.
That's what i meant to say when i said the workers aren't guaranteed, but there are statistics that show a tremendous amount of promise here.
Um, so that means that there's a good opportunity.
Um, the the roadside gatherings you mentioned that before.
Uh feifei, that seems to be gone by the wayside now, the way that it used to be done.
Yeah because, just like i described that in the past, it's more like people who are looking for jobs stay on in an area on the roadside with a cardboard, yelling like I can do this, I can do that.
But now, like in Magical, the example that we've been talking about, it's sort of like a platform.
It's indoor.
And it's equipped with, for example, power outlets, hot water, and even a television.
So that for those who are still looking for the jobs but haven't really landed anything, they can stay inside drinking some hot water looking around because there are also offices for a lot of companies that you can just go into their offices and ask around.
So it's like an indoor, more organized facility instead of by the roadside.
So that's what's happening here in Beijing.
But as we said before, there are other cities who are doing this as well.
And those cities would be Shanghai, Shenzhen, Kunming.
They're rolling out their own programs, too.
What are they doing in Shanghai?
Well, in Shanghai they're doing something very similar of how they're doing in Majuqiao, as a matter of fact,
If I'm remembering correctly, one spot in Shanghai, they used to suffer from the street side gathering, roadside gathering, kind of chaotic, unregulated way of gig job hunting in the past.
And starting from also around the same time period 2023, 2024 they start to build this whole systematic stations there to have people wait inside and the big electronic board outside showcasing what kind of job is expecting and what kind of jobs you can apply.
They even offer hot water and breakfast ever since 3 am in the morning, so that people can keep coming back and expect to find something there.
So that's something that Shanghai is working on that can be quite similar to it in Beijing.
But another major thing going on.
What showed up in Shanghai earlier in January was a major job fair that they held on January the 4th this year.
It's already finished within the same day, but that event was launched specifically to ensure job stability and support for workers staying on in Shanghai during the New Year and Spring Festival period.
That wasn't just a job fair for any time of year.
That was a job fair specifically for the Spring Festival holidays.
Yeah, and the New Year.
That's why it's so early on in January.
So that one brought together more than 100 high-quality companies offering over 1000 targeted job openings.
And well, their job variety is a bit different, apart from the commonly seen ones like the nanny job, cleaner job, security guard's job or mechanic's.
They also hire something you wouldn't expect to see in the market like that, such as becoming an actor in the Shanghai Disney Resort.
They have dozens of job titles opening for that as well.
I was really happy to see it.
And also participating employers included key state-owned enterprises and also companies in the new economy and businesses from emerging industries.
So everybody was all thrown out up to one platform to exchange information and look for opportunities.
That's Shanghai.
What are they doing down in Shenzhen?
Well, in Shenzhen, they have something, I would say, very similar as well.
They have a new station called Warm Bee Station because, when it comes to these delivery riders couriers cleaners nannies, security guards, they're working around bees.
They are launching these 24 hour hubs where they can, for example, recharge their phones or use the microwaves or grab some Wi-Fi or have some emergency medical supplies.
That might sound like nothing.
But if you think, these delivery workers are out on their scooters all the time, going from shop to home, from shop to home, and just repeat repeat repeat, repeat.
They don't if they take a break.
They often don't have a place to take a break.
And this provides them exactly that.
Yeah.
And especially when it comes to, for example, emergency medical supplies for a lot of them, they're really running on a tight schedule.
For cleaners as well, for nannies as well.
They could be going to different homes, four to five homes, even within a day.
So having such a hub that can offer them like a five minute rest time, break time, is really, really important.
And I think another very interesting example is that a lot of the companies, especially when it comes to logistics and delivery services, They are also organizing really big New Year's Eve dinners for their on-duty staff.
Wonderful.
You're talking about platforms like JD and Taobao.
Yeah, so that they are also taking care of their own staff members.
So that I think, during this time of the year, it's one thing that we're talking about.
You know payments, even bonus payments, higher payments for these workers.
It's also the time of the year where you tend to feel lonely and often, more often than before, especially at night, if you're alone, working late into the night, that's the time that If someone, your company, or someone from outside can offer you a gathering or a hand or something will make you feel better.
Yeah, it's really a wonderful and considerate thing to do for the people who are staying and working during this holiday season.
We've talked about the Great Migration.
It's the largest human migration on the planet.
It's billions of people on the move.
So the people who stay in these cities to work, I mean, first of all, you know, cheers to you.
Thank you for doing that.
And because they are doing that, they should be taken care of very well.
Now, speaking of that being taken care of, what types of policies have been put in place from the government side of things to help out gig workers?
Wow.
Over the years.
China's governmental support for the whole gig economy here in China, and also for urban workers, is currently framed by the 15th Five-Year Plan, which covers starting from this year and the five years following, which explicitly aims for high-quality full employment.
That's the goal.
So recent policies are reshaping the lives of urban gig walkers through enhanced digital protections, targeted recruitment campaigns and localized service networks and and everything that's aligned in that the same target and we mentioned how those roadside gig unregulated market has been really operated into something that people can feel safely trading from.
That's one outcome of this whole mechanism as well, because not only do people get to find work and get to find people to be hired easier, but also their rights and their paychecks are better protected.
The yeah, protection is a key word there because, you know, in the past, with day work and this is true in the united states too this is part of um, the gig culture.
There too, workers will often gather in the morning at a, at a like a home depot or something like that um related kind of related stores in the parking lot, and then get picked up and go and work for a day, and it's usually a cash type of thing without, without contracts, as far as i know.
Now, one of the issues with that and that's what we're going to talk about here is that, with the way things were in the past, these workers were often unprotected, meaning they could be I don't know if taken advantage of is the right way to put it but they didn't have protection in terms of things like getting paid on time.
But there's a new system in place.
It's the digital RMB and smart contract system for wage security system.
And that solves that problem.
Tell us about this.
Yes.
So this is an initiative from the central bank, the People's Bank of China, and they are cooperating with other banks that provide a digital system where, for example, companies and financial institutions and also the workers themselves are involved, so that it can sort of work in this way.
It's like the companies sign a smart contract online and the financial institutions will go over that contract And they have certain timelines, for example, based on the process, the progress of your projects.
When did you plan to pay your workers and how much money you plan to pay them?
And of course, there are also other factors in play.
For example, the attendance is also very important for those who don't show up at work.
Of course, you don't need to pay them.
But for those who pay, who, you know, showed up on time.
Sorry, sorry.
So that means that there's protection for the companies as well with this new plan as well.
Yes.
Sorry to interrupt, but when?
If that worker really showed up on time, finish his job, and when the payment date arrives, that system will automatically transfer that money to the bank account of the workers themselves.
So for companies, they're not allowed to move that money around.
For example, i can just move this 100 million yuan of money to, for example, pay my debt for this time or buy some other materials I use probably in my next projects.
No, they're not allowed to do that.
If you decided this pool of money is going to be used for payments, That's only for payments only.
From what I understand, it's correct me if I'm wrong.
It's more than just not allowed.
It's digitally locked, meaning that money cannot enter into a different account.
It cannot be used to pay for, you know, building materials for next project.
Like you said, it can only go from the account into the employee's account.
That guarantees the protection from what I understood.
Yes, correctly.
There is also no middleman risk.
Like there is little human interference, meaning that the system is very secure and can be so that workers can be paid on time in full amount.
Yeah.
I mean this is great for the workers because they don't need to run the risk of hearing that excuse anymore.
Oh, yeah.
Maybe.
Well, please just wait until next week.
Yeah.
Just a few days more.
We'll pay you then.
It happens.
Hopefully not too common in the past but, as of the end of January 2026, the digital RMB smart contracts, the system we just talked about, have been piloted in areas such as prepaid fund management, supply chain finance, corporate treasury management and subsidy distribution, and then, in total, over 480 000 smart contracts have already been signed, with cumulative transactions volume reaching 360 million yuan.
That's all, as of very recent times, just further explaining that this is something that we're working on and it's expanding, And that further pardon me incentivizes workers to want to stay and take these types of jobs.
If they know there's a system in place that guarantees their pay will not be delayed, they will be paid the proper amount at the proper time, then they will all the more want to stay and work perhaps.
Back to the government side, what they're doing.
Recruiting is changing a little bit as well.
There's a program called the 2026 Spring Breeze Action and Employment Assistance Season and that focuses on odd job groups, the unemployed, rural laborers.
Tell us a little bit more about that.
Yeah, that one is how our policies are now favoring the smaller scale but better designed kind of job fairs, or rather to make it more specialized and precise for each gig workers.
So it's made easier for people because it's very commonly held in community centers, shopping malls and even night markets to reach to them and precisely where they show up, where they live.
And also there's this kind of live stream recruitment.
I'm not sure if you guys have swiped to any of those.
I haven't seen those before live streaming platforms before but yeah, it happens to better adapt to modern habits, the government is promoting live streaming job searches and digital platforms that allows workers to find opportunities via WeChat, WeChat mini programs more specifically, and also yeah, official accounts from the local human resources bureaus.
Have you seen some of these before?
Yeah, in my community center, I ran to their, they have a WeChat account, which I follow.
I often bump into some announcements, you know, announcing that we are going to have a job fair In this community center this weekend.
There are mostly jobs like security guards or cleaners or office workers in filing, archiving.
You know, it's the kind of job that I can tell is targeted at gig workers for those unemployed.
And also some titles, for example, for moms that are looking for part-time jobs as well.
Yeah.
That's one thing.
It's like the government is not really guaranteed that you will get a job, but they're sort of building this link because we can see companies complaining about.
You know what I can't?
We can't find enough workers.
But then there are also a group of people in the society who are like, but we can't find any jobs.
Yeah.
And this is why the platform for connections is important.
And also for the communities that I live in, they also held skill training programs.
Even for security guards, there needs to be certain kind of certificate so that you can apply for these kind of jobs.
And it's not a very difficult course.
But it's also something some people are not aware of, first of all.
And also secondly, they're not really sure about where to get these kind of certificates and who should I trust in getting these certificates?
And this is the platform I think the government is really building up on.
You know, I was a security guard when I was in university.
Tell us about it.
Thank goodness no criminals showed up because I would have been like, go ahead.
I'm not going to bother you about this.
My personal safety is more important.
I had no skills, no certification, no nothing at all.
So I did that for about a year.
That was one of my part time jobs many, many, many years ago.
Well, this is, this has to be a win.
Win for everyone then because, for businesses that wanted to stay open during this time of year, one of the complaints they might have is look, we're getting a lot of orders, but we just can't, we can't fill them.
And if we can't fill them, that's going to hurt your reputation with your customer, maybe lose some potential customers in the future, customers who may have been loyal to you and your business.
From the worker's point of view.
If they didn't have protection in the past, they would think listen, this is the most important time of the year in China for family visits.
This is it.
Beyond this, I don't get many opportunities.
Why would I stay in a city to work in an industry where I don't even know if I'm going to get paid on time?
That doesn't make sense.
So that's what you mean when you say, well, the businesses, they don't have the workers.
And then the workers are like, well, yeah, we want to work, but we don't feel protected.
All of these measures put in place, including what you just mentioned Feifei, the skill certification fantastic.
It just encourages people to want to take part both from the business side and from the delivery side during this very very, very busy time of year.
Interesting story.
