Blind spot

Central government figures show that China has about 200 million casual workers, accounting for roughly one in every five employees.

Many don't have a traditional manager or employer as outlined by China's labor law, which came into force in 1994 and was last revised 11 years ago.

Last year, the courts heard about 540 cases involving work-related injuries to or deaths of casual workers, compared with just 44 in 2013, China Judgements Online, a database of court verdicts said.

However, in most cases the courts do not recognize labor or service ties－two major labor relations that are crucial benchmarks for deciding an employer's liability to pay compensation－between casual employees and job "matchmaking" platforms and agencies.

The rise in the number of such disputes in recent years has shone a light on the porous legal protections for casual workers, whose services have underpinned the rapid expansion of the country's "gig economy" in the shadow of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Last year, more than 84 million people offered casual services via the gig economy, according to an estimate by the State Information Center, an advisory body affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planner. In 2017, the number was 70 million.

Moreover, the epidemic-induced economic downturn has boosted employers' appetites for less-formal employment terms to reduce labor costs, making the closure of legal loopholes a more pressing issue, experts said.

A report last year by Renmin University of China said the proportion of Chinese companies that used informal workers had risen by 11 percent year-on-year to more than 55 percent. Almost 30 percent of those businesses said they will retain or expand the practice.