8-Year-Old Girl Controverses Food Delivery...Get 200 won and subcontract the existing delivery workers
Aug 12, 2025
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Children are subcontracted to work by existing delivery riders.
As the problem grows, the authorities are determined to take stern measures, such as cracking down on the case.
According to Chinese media Guangming Network and Hong Kong media South China Morning Post, elementary school students have been seen working as food delivery workers in the sunny Bay area of Shenzhen, China, which is called the world's largest electronic shopping mall. Most of the children were between the ages of 10 and 12, and the youngest was 8 years old, according to the media.
In the area, children wore QR payment codes around their necks and competed to win orders when a delivery driver wearing a food delivery platform uniform appeared.
Delivery drivers, who received about 5 yuan (about 1,000 won) per order, paid 1 to 2 yuan (about 200 to 400 won) per case to children. It is the so-called re-submission.
It is pointed out that this deformed delivery culture is due to the complex structure of Sunny Bay.
Due to the structure of a building densely packed with thousands of electronic stores and elevator waiting times, the help of people familiar with the site was needed to increase delivery efficiency.
According to Shenzhen Evening News, a local media outlet, this re-submission delivery culture has existed in Sunny Bay for many years, mainly carried out by cleaners or full-time delivery workers. One woman also claimed to have processed up to 500 orders a day.
However, as the children participated in the work, some delivery workers changed their roles as brokers.
There were different reasons why the children jumped into this.
Some were the children of shopkeepers, and some were brought in by parents "to experience life and build their will".
One parent called "I brought him because he only used his cell phone at home````````````````````````````````.
One child said "I used to be timid, but now I can attract customers."
However, this phenomenon has brought safety concerns.
Concerns have been raised about the possibility of children being exposed to the risk of accidents and the safety of food.
"It's good to train children, but if there's an accident, it's unclear who's responsible," one merchant pointed out, while another said "I'm worried that the delivery platform doesn't seem to supervise the children, so the food won't be delivered properly or spilled over."
In the wake of the controversy, the Shenzhen city government announced that it would crack down on the service.
It also asked children to discipline delivery drivers for subcontracting their work in consultation with the food delivery platform.
In addition, it also came up with measures such as arranging after-school classes and extending the operating hours of local libraries so that children can enjoy better leisure activities.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
