Has Covid-19 Permanently Digitized Daily Life in China?

After the first coronavirus outbreaks in central China’s Hubei province in January, people all over the country were confined to their homes amid lockdown orders.

Months of quarantine and social distancing meant that many industries had to rely heavily on technology to stay in operation. In many cases, this meant relying on China’s existing infrastructure of “super apps” — with built-in capabilities that allow users to do things like send money, order food, and watch movies off of the same, or sister, platforms.

From food to retail, technology has changed aspects of daily life in China throughout most of 2020. But as China recovers from the pandemic and life returns to relative normalcy, how permanent will these changes be?

Food

As consumers stopped dining out in late January, China began relying heavily on its online food delivery sector, which is dominated by Meituan and Eleme. Both companies quickly adapted to the epidemic by introducing contact-free protocols the same month for drivers, which delivery companies elsewhere in the world would eventually imitate.

Even months later as China recovers, the coronavirus has already reshaped the Chinese catering sector as restaurants rebalance their dining-in and delivery services. In the first three months of 2020 alone, more than 50% of Meituan’s highest-ranked restaurants enrolled in online food delivery, according to Meituan Research Institute. Traditionally more popular among office workers, meal delivery became commonplace in most households as families were under quarantine.

Delivery platforms have also taken the opportunity to diversify their services. Before the pandemic, both Eleme and Meituan delivered daily necessities, groceries, and prescription drugs as well as meals — transactions by percentage saw a visible increase in all of these areas. 

Amid economic stagnation and rising unemployment, the food delivery sector also created job opportunities for affected workers that were laid off during the lockdown. Around 380,000 people joined Meituan as drivers in March alone — and a total of 1.39 million joined in the first half of 2020 — when China was just beginning to reopen and recover from the pandemic.

To learn more about how coronavirus has changed retail, entertainment, and health, hit "Read More" at the bottom of this message.

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