- Companies pledge limits on delivery pressure and merchant restrictions
- New rules target aggressive pricing wars and rider safety concerns
Major Chinese instant retail and delivery platforms including Taobao Flash (淘宝闪购), Meituan (美团) and JD.com (京东) signed a self-regulatory agreement in Hangzhou on May 28 aimed at curbing what Chinese regulators and industry participants increasingly describe as excessive “involution-style” competition.
The pact, signed at a city government industry meeting, also included Dingdong Maicai (叮咚买菜), Hema Fresh (盒马鲜生), SF Intra-City (顺丰同城) and FlashEx (闪送).
The 13-point agreement covers pricing, merchant treatment, rider protections and platform governance.
Platforms pledged not to force merchants into exclusive arrangements, manipulate prices or impose discriminatory fee structures.
The companies also said they would establish price-monitoring systems to help merchants avoid excessive promotional pressure.
Mounting scrutiny
The agreement comes amid mounting scrutiny of China’s on-demand delivery sector, where increasingly aggressive delivery targets have pushed riders to speed, run red lights and take other risks to avoid penalties for late orders.
“What we riders fear most isn’t distance or heat — it’s involution,” Shi Yan, a Hangzhou delivery rider with three years of experience, said. “Everyone competes on order volume, low prices and faster delivery times, but nobody really benefits.”
The agreement imposes minimum delivery assessment times for riders. Platforms cannot penalize riders for orders delivered within 30 minutes over distances shorter than three kilometers.
Meanwhile, deliveries between three and five kilometers must allow at least 45 minutes.
More control
Riders will also gain more control over workload limits. Platforms cannot force riders to accept more than 12 simultaneous orders, down from the current industry ceiling of 15.
Xiao Shuixian, senior vice president and Communist Party secretary at Taobao Flash, said the platform would “promote responsible algorithms” and avoid creating unnecessary stress or danger for delivery workers.
Taobao had more than doubled its consumer subsidy spending per order over the past year while reducing the average promotional burden placed on merchants by 20%, he added.
Bike rental guidelines
Hangzhou’s market regulator also released new guidelines governing electric-bike rental services for delivery riders, covering areas including pricing transparency, vehicle safety and contract terms.
An official with the regulator credited instant delivery for the “critical role” it plays in linking consumers, merchants and daily commerce, but said it must “resolutely abandon zero-sum involution thinking.”
“And (the sector) should move toward a healthier model balancing merchant rights, rider welfare and fair competition, an official with the regulator said on condition of anonymity,” the official said.
