(File Photo)

An investigation regarding a deputy township mayor of central China's Anhui province conducted by a local commission for discipline inspection has sparked heated discussion recently merely due to the fact that he was registered a part-time driver at Didi Chuxing, China's home-grown Uber competitor.

With the popularity of the Internet, e-commerce and mobile payments, use of free "fragments of time" to make money is becoming a new way of life for Chinese people.

According to a survey issued by China's largest human resources service provider 51.job, 40 percent of Chinese people are engaged in two jobs at the same time. Most of these jobs are provided through Internet, such as online shopping services or as part-time Didi or Uber drivers etc. 

"It is mainly because of convenience. Just by opening an App on your smartphone, you will be able to receive orders and money can be transferred to your account directly", said 42-year-old Mo Qunli, a train crew worker. He works four days and gets four-days off and has long been registered as a Didi driver. 

Driving friends to the airport and picking up a passenger when returning can help earn money for gas, said Mo. He also revealed one-day driving in the downtown can earn him more than when he works as a train attendant. Increase in living costs and the stock market crash have forced a lot of people to be moonlight Didi drivers, Mo said. 

"Making money while waiting for the bus", said Wen Haohua, working for a technology company in central China's Hunan province, who is fond of download new APP. He has made a considerable amount of pocket money using smartphone APP. 

Experiencing a game, watching a video advertisement and answering questions, writing down feedback on the test of a new product, and finding the code of a specified product at a shopping mall nearby. Opening mobile APPs, taking a few minutes to complete the tasks and submitting for review, you can get paid by means such as withdrawing cash through Paypal or through smartphone top-off etc.

“It gives me the kind of the feeling I get when I ran errands for my mother when I was a young boy,” said Wen. 

(File Photo)

Development of network technology has made part-time platform extend into many industries and allowed more and more people to be able to access or issue part-time job related information anytime and anywhere. In particular, some part-time jobs which can stimulate personal interests and develop their potentialities can meet the aspirations of young people to spend time freely and to experience different occupations.

As a journalism major, Dong Hang works at a SOE and he often does part-time photography. In his view, besides the extra money, a sense of accomplishment and pleasure, and new friends are all additional fun.