Didi plans to hire more Party members in China to act as customer service ‘role models’ amid safety overhaul
The proposed hiring of Party members by Didi reflects similar moves by other Chinese companies that have run afoul of authorities in the past year
Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing platform, plans to hire 1,000 Communist Party members as part of its customer service team as it seeks to shore up public confidence in safety following two recent alleged rape and murders by its drivers.
Party members are expected to serve as “role models” in the building of an emergency safety team, the Beijing-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. The recruitment would “secure the Party committee’s core role” in safety assurance and emergency management, it said, without elaborating.
The proposed hiring of Party members by Didi reflects similar moves by other Chinese companies that have run afoul of authorities in the past year as they seek to get closer to the government, amid a drive by President Xi Jinping – under a slogan of “the party leads everything” – for the Communist Party to assert greater control over China’s economic, foreign, corporate and cultural affairs.
Rising technology companies such as popular news app Jinri Toutiao and live streaming platform Kuaishou both labelled Party members as a “preferred choice” in recent online job adverts for content reviewers – in a recruitment drive that followed a government crackdown on content it deemed inappropriate.
“While Beijing has been liberalising some parts of the economy, in others it has been exerting a stronger influence," said Brock Silvers, managing director of Shanghai-based investment advisory Kaiyuan Capital. “The forward risk lies in the massive pipeline of China offshore IPOs. Chinese companies obviously need to adhere to Chinese regulations. New foreign shareholders may not be fully aware of China’s corporate-government nexus … any eventual reconciliation may not be simple or pretty.”
Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, has openly praised the positive impact of the Party on corporate governance in China, in comments at odds with the views of corporate governance experts.
