China’s drinking culture has created a 15.4-billion-yuan industry in recent years, with a number of new jobs, such as designated drivers, being created, a study indicated.

The report, published by a research team from the School of Law at Tsinghua University, found that calling for a designated driver after drinking has become a new consumer habit in China. In 2016, designated drivers were ordered more than 253 million times. Almost all of them, 97.8 percent, were needed because of alcohol. Exhausted drivers and those who needed to pick up others made up the remaining percentage.

The report estimates that designated drivers have reduced drunken driving accidents by 3.5 million and saved some 46.2 billion yuan. That means traffic police have made 530 million fewer trips to accident scenes or alcohol checkpoints, China News Service reported.

China made driving under the influence (DUI) a criminal offence in 2011. All cities have since then strengthened their DUI checks, especially at night and near popular shopping areas.

Didi Chuxing, which offers a designated driver service, said its data on the popular areas for designated drivers could help traffic police better target DUI hotspots.

The growing industry is providing job opportunities for more people. A full-time designated driver can earn about 6,957 yuan per month on average. They can earn as much as 10,000 yuan in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the report noted.