Pots of gold await in China’s gig economy: how mobile technology is transforming the world’s biggest jobs market

Advances in mobile internet and e-payment services allows talent to be paid wherever and whenever, creating opportunities for 400 million people to be self-employed by 2036, according to AliResearch

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Hai Zhenzhen, who broadcasts live video of her daily routines, receives a digital sports car from one of he male fans. She can convert the value of the gifts into cash, sharing half of the proceeds with the platform that hosts her broadcast. The most popular hosts on UpLive can take in 100,000 yuan a month, the platform says. Photo:Simon Song

Meng Jing

Published: 1:30pm, 26 Feb 2017Updated: 11:39am, 27 Feb 2017

By most measures, Hai Zhenzhen has the perfect job.

The 21-year-old high school graduate works from home, answers to nobody, and pretty much can work whenever she wants.

Using a smartphone-based application called UpLive, she live streams videos of herself doing chores, singing or just chatting with people for two hours every weekday. Without needing to engage in pornography, phone sex or anything remotely risque, all that’s required of Hai is to look pretty on camera as she goes about her daily routine, all the while receiving digital gifts from a mostly male fan club.

The gifts, which range from digital bouquets of roses to strands of pearls, jewellery or even cars and yachts, can be converted into cash, of which she splits half the value with the platform that hosts her broadcasts.

Kai Kai (web name), 25 years old, invites participants to perform with him during a live streaming session in Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province. Photo: China Foto Press

While Hai declined to divulge her income, she’s earning enough to afford an apartment of 40 square metres (430 square feet) 15 minutes ride from Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, buy herself cosmetics and occasionally splurge on a new wardrobe, all for a 40-hour month.

The most popular hosts, as video streamers are called, can take home up to 100,000 yuan (US$14,537) a month on UpLive, said the platform’s co-founder Andy Tian. That’s 30 times the 3,378 yuan that an average college graduate earns in the first job in Beijing, according to a think tank.