The number of people delivering online orders in service each day has exceeded 1 million in China, driven by the digital transformation of the country's service industry and the rise of online shopping.

(Photo/Xinhua)

According to a recent analysis report on the current new vocational employment situation released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, delivery personnel for online orders are fundamentally different from staff from traditional express delivery and warehousing logistics.

In the distribution link, delivery personnel for online orders provide point-to-point services, and there are no centralized pick-up, delivery and transfer locations.

Delivery personnel for online orders mainly deliver food & beverage, B2C retail goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, and so on for local merchants, and there is no long-distance distribution involved.

According to the survey, the number of delivery personnel for online orders earning incomes from Chinese shopping platform Meituan alone reached 4 million in 2019, an increase of 23.3 percent over the same period last year.

From Jan. 20 to March 30, 2020, there were 457,800 new deliverymen registered on Meituan.

The flexible working hours is what gives the job its greatest appeal. The survey shows that nearly 60 percent of delivery personnel for online orders work less than four hours a day.