EU and China share experiences on extending social security to workers in the platform economy

Beijing (ILO News) - On 19 November 2025, within the context of the “Improving China’s institutional capacity towards universal social protection (Phase 2)” (Project Phase 2), funded by the European Union under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI–Global Europe), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the European Commission and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) of China co-organized a high-level EU-China International Conference on Social Protection in Beijing. The event focused on the strategies for extending social security to workers in the platform economy and other new forms of employment.

© MOHRSS

© MOHRSS

The platform economy has seen significant growth in both the EU and China, accounting for an increasing share of the global labour force. While this expansion brings economic opportunities, it also poses challenges in ensuring effective social security coverage for platform workers. Both the EU and China have been actively exploring viable approaches to extend social security coverage to these workers. This conference provided a timely and valuable platform for dialogue, experience sharing and mutual learning between EU Member States, China and the ILO.

During the conference, the EU presented its Directive on Improving Working Conditions in Platform Work (2024). Three EU Member States, namely Belgium, Spain and Italy, shared their national experiences from both regulatory and administrative perspectives. China presented its latest measures, including an expanded pilot programme on occupational injury insurance for platform workers. Key findings from a technical study prepared by the Chinese Academy of Labour and Social Security (CALSS) on promoting platform workers’ enrolment in the basic pension insurance for enterprise employees in China, supported by the ILO Project Phase 2, were also discussed.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) provided workers’ and employers’ perspectives respectively. ILO experts from Geneva joined online to present the ILO’s approach to achieving Universal Social Protection for all workers, regardless of employment type, and provided updates on standard-setting discussions concerning decent work in the platform economy.

© MOHRSS

© MOHRSS

"The Chinese government adheres to the principle of balancing development and regulation, coordinating the promotion of the platform economy with the protection of workers' rights in new forms of employment, and continuously improving the institutional system... China, the European Union, and the ILO should fully leverage their respective strengths, foster mutual learning and exchange, and jointly explore paths for future development."

"Social protection should be seen as a form of productive investment into our people who are the key driver for competitiveness, sustainable growth and economic resilience. our Conference will be a valuable platform to contribute to our cooperation and dialogue on designing, promoting and implementing effective social protection policies for better lives of our people."

"We hope that the relevant experiences shared by EU Members States and China during the Conference today, will provide valuable inputs to feed the national and international debate on how to extend social protection coverage to workers in the platform economy and new forms of employment."

The conference brought together around 90 participants from China and Europe, including representatives from MOHRSS, ACFTU, CEC, DG EMPL, the EU Delegation to China, embassies of EU Member States in Beijing, as well as Chinese academics.

The conference was a key activity under the project “Improving China’s institutional capacity towards universal social protection (Phase 2)”, funded by the European Union, and implemented by the ILO in collaboration with Chinese tripartite partners. The project has supported the development of a series of publications on various social security topics, including a collection of good practices in China’s social security system.

On the following day, MOHRSS, in collaboration with ILO, organized a field visit for the EU Delegation and EU Member States representatives to one of the biggest delivery platform companies in China (Meituan) and a Social Insurance Agency branch in Chaoyang District (Beijing), where the current mechanisms in place to improve social protection coverage for platform workers were shared. The visit facilitated technical exchanges on social security for platform workers in practice and social security services for the general public.

© MOHRSS

© MOHRSS

Please click "Files for download" on the right side of the webpage to find the agenda of the conference.