China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security along with four other departments last week published administrative guidance for 11 major online platforms including Meituan, Ele.me and Didi, urging them to better protect workers in a fresh push to improve the internet-enabled workplace, reports The Global Times. The eight other platforms were not identified. The meeting spoke positively about the platform companies' phased results in implementing policies designed to better protect their workers, according to the statement, and such platform firms were urged to continue aligning with the policy requirements and better protecting  workers' rights.

The instruction was a follow-up to previous government enacts targeting working conditions for delivery, ride-hailing and other labour-intensive online platforms as part of a wider push for healthier and more sustainable growth of the platform economy. According to the new guidelines, the platforms should improve delivery workers' routes, reduce work intensity, and strengthen safety education and training for delivery workers. A clear plan to address delivery workers' complaints within a certain period of time was also on the to-do list for the platforms.