“There is No Future in this Business.” Further Platformization of Ride-hailing Service in China and the State’s Intervening Policies under the COVID-19 Outbreak

The chapter provides a snapshot of the development of China's ride-hailing industry based on in-depth interviews and survey questionnaires involving more than 300 ride-sourcing and taxi drivers from 12 provinces in the summer of 2022. It investigates how the state's policies to regulate ride-hailing platforms are implemented and compares the working conditions of ride-sourcing drivers and taxi drivers under the COVID-19 outbreak. While existing literature tends to analytically separate taxi and ride-sourcing drivers in terms of their working conditions, we find it fruitful, at least in the Chinese context, to discuss them together and compare their similarities and differences. Meanwhile, the new policy of licensing has reinforced the business chain of vehicle leasing, which makes some ride-sourcing drivers even more precarious and susceptible to the control of fleet management companies.