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More Chinese work full-time running errands

(People's Daily Online)    16:49, August 09, 2019

Thanks to convenient mobile internet platforms, more Chinese people now pay others to carry out trivial tasks on their behalf, Workers Daily reported on August 7.

Gong Hongping from southwest China's Chongqing makes a living by running errands for clients he gets through an online platform. The first order he received in August was to drive a car to its annual vehicle check, as the car owner was busy.

On August 1, Gong picked up the car from the client at 8:00 a.m., and completed the mission at about 11:00 a.m. He said he earned 300 yuan from this order.

Gong now works full time running errands for other people. This job role covers a lot of bases, ranging from buying goods, delivering documents, queuing and shopping on behalf of clients.

Now, such agency services have emerged in various fields to help with every aspect of a person's life.

Daijia, or designated driving, is a service in China where customers can order substitute drivers to drive them home in their vehicles if they've had one too many beers.

Chinese start-up eDaijia, one of these O2O applications providing substitute drivers for inebriated car owners, has developed into a technology company with hundreds of thousands of employees after almost ten years of development. The company receives over 120,000 orders during peak hours.

More money has been invested in start-ups which provide agency services. For example, Beijing-based start-up Jimaisong.com has raised an angel investment worth 15 million yuan. It's a digital platform where offline stores can sell their products online, and customers can get daily necessities within half an hour.

Chen Liteng, an analyst from China's E-commerce Research Center (CECRC), told Workers Daily that this market has ample space for development.

Those involved in this new industry make a profit by selling their time, while those who pay for these services feel like they've had the added value of saved time, Chen believed. 

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Web editor: Xian Jiangnan, Bianji)

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