China extended its occupational injury protection scheme for workers in new forms of employment to all 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on July 1, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. For the insurance market, the defining features are structural: the cover is priced per order, experience-rated on claims, backed by a state fund rather than commercial risk capital, and detached from any employment relationship.

A work injury scheme decoupled from employment

Standard work injury insurance in China is funded solely by employers at industry-risk rates that generally run from 0.2% to 1.9% of wages and presumes a formal employer. The gig scheme removes that prerequisite. Under the Ministry’s measures, platforms register order-takers and pay contributions on the principle of “coverage for every order, every worker,” with protection triggered when a worker accepts a gig regardless of labour-relationship status. According to China Daily, Li Chang’an, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics’ Academy of China Open Economy Studies, described the logic as: “To deal with flexibility, we need flexibility.”

Who carries the risk

The primary notice settles a question the announcements leave vague. Article 10 of the measures directs that platform contributions and their interest income are folded into the state work injury insurance fund, held in a dedicated sub-account, pooled at the provincial level, and routed through the treasury. The risk therefore sits with the state fund. Commercial insurers enter only as service administrators, and only where a province’s own administrative capacity is short. Article 28 permits provincial authorities to commission insurers by public tender to help with injury confirmation, labour-capacity assessment, and benefit payment under entrusted-service agreements. Provincial rules are explicit that scheme funds may not be treated as premium income for those insurers, which receive only a service fee, according to Liaoning Department of Human Resources and Social Security. Provinces including Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Sichuan have adopted this administrative structure, according to Central Social Work Department. Oversight is shared by the Ministry, the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

Per-order pricing, with experience rating

Contributions are filed monthly with tax authorities, calculated as a platform’s total regional order volume for the prior month multiplied by a per-order rate. National baseline rates during the trial were set at 0.04 yuan per order for ride-hailing, 0.04 to 0.06 yuan for delivery, and 0.2 yuan for intracity freight, with instant delivery unified at 0.07 yuan for newly added regions.

Loss experience and pricing adequacy

The scheme operates on a “revenue set by expenditure, income, and outgo balanced” principle – a break-even pool that reprices to claims rather than accumulating a surplus. Provincial agencies float rates within 50%, in 10-percentage-point bands, according to each platform’s payout ratio and injury incidence, and 2025 rates were set using each platform’s actual payout ratio over July 2022 to December 2024 as the base.

The repricing triggers reveal the loss dynamics. Where an instant-delivery platform’s payout ratio reaches 100% and a float to 150% cannot restore balance, the baseline rises to 0.25 yuan per order; Beijing applies the higher rate once the ratio exceeds 150%. Nationally, platforms whose payout ratios reach 200% or 300% may be moved to the 0.25 yuan rate. The framework is thus built around delivery-sector payout ratios that can run two to three times contributions, which is why the per-order rate for that sector can more than triple. The Ministry does not publish an aggregate benefits-paid figure for the scheme, but these thresholds indicate where claims pressure concentrates.

Coverage trajectory and the remaining gap

Enrolment reached 12.35 million across seven pilot provinces by mid-2025, 23.25 million by the end of October 2025, 25.1 million by year-end, more than 27 million by late April 2026, and 29.902 million across 11 major platforms in 17 provinces by the end of June. China Daily reported the nationwide rollout brings the count to 14 platform companies. Set against official estimates of about 84 million platform workers and more than 200 million flexible workers, the enrolled population is under half of platform workers. The State Council has told the NPC that occupational injury coverage needs further expansion, and the Ministry plans to study higher-risk industries in 2027.

Commercial insurers as administrators and complements

Beyond the administrative role, provincial rules direct authorities to support developing commercial insurance that connects with the state scheme, pointing to a multi-layered structure. Platforms already offer voluntary cover: Didi provides a free product spanning traffic accidents, in-vehicle disputes, accidental injury, and sudden death for drivers and passengers, and Huolala offers drivers app-based accident cover alongside free accompanying-passenger accident insurance. For insurers, the open questions are pricing adequacy as the state pool scales and whether voluntary products can reach the majority of flexible workers the scheme does not yet cover. Jiang Ying, a labour law professor at China University of Labor Relations, characterized flexible employment as a “shock absorber” in downturns, according to Asia News Network.