The Hangzhou Employees Service Center on Yuewang road, Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo provided by Zhejiang Provincial Federation of Trade Unions]

Wu Chao, a delivery rider, rested comfortably at the Hangzhou Workers' Service Center after the lunchtime rush for food delivery workers.

As of Jan 26, Zhejiang had established 12,000 service stations for outdoor workers, benefiting over 4 million people. These service stations were first initiated in 2014, focusing on providing rest areas for sanitation workers.

Among the many innovations include Wenzhou's creation of "Ten Yuan Restaurants" offering affordable meals for workers such as delivery riders, and Shaoxing’s integration of station locations into map apps for easy accessibility. In Taizhou, volunteers are arranged during the day, and a combination of 24-hour service stations and warm self-service cabins operate at night.

Authorities in Zhejiang aim to refine the layout of these service locations, creating a "15-minute service circle" for outdoor workers across the province to provide them with better and more accessible services.

The "Heartwarming Service for Outdoor Workers" campaign has already been listed as part of the Provincial Government’s ten initiatives for improving people's lives in 2024.

In addition, Zhejiang plans to fully implement a three-year action plan, renovating and upgrading over 1,000 stations by the end of the year and completing the overall plan for the existing 12,000 service stations by the end of 2026.