Mobilizing idle hands during a downturn

Car-hailing apps are popular in China these days for one obvious reason: they offer daily commuters private car service as an alternative to the crowded public transport system and the taxi service that is often in shortage.

But there is another appealing aspect of it: mobilizing the idle hands in society during the economic downturn.

Zheng is a driver I recently met while I took a ride home using the car-hailing service. When I asked him how the driving business had been and why he was doing it, he sighed a bit and said: "I am doing this as a part-time job. My own business has gone bad."