On August 24, Meituan (stock code: 3690.HK) released the second quarter and half-year results of 2023. The company’s revenue in the first half of the year was 126.582 billion yuan, an increase of 30.2% year-on-year; the adjusted profit was 13.151 billion yuan, and the adjusted net loss was 1.528 billion yuan in the same period last year. Meituan benefited from the recovery of consumption in the first half of the year, and the growth of various businesses was stable.

Among them, Meituan achieved revenue of 68 billion yuan in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 33.4% year-on-year, and the growth rate exceeded Quarter 1. Among them, the core local business in the second quarter increased by 39.2% year-on-year, also exceeding Quarter 1. However, restricted by cold chain and logistics expenses, Meituan’s new business revenue in the second quarter increased by 18.4% year-on-year, lower than the growth rate of the business in the first quarter.

"Thanks to the arrival of the traditional peak consumption season, the company’s various businesses achieved healthy growth in this quarter," said Wang Xing, CEO of Meituan. "With the local lifestyle market showing a good trend of steady recovery, we will continue to focus on the’retail + technology ‘strategy to meet the increasingly diverse consumer needs of users, and use technology to promote the efficiency of local commodity retail and service retail."

The recovery of core local businesses accelerated in the second quarter, growing faster than in the first quarter

In 2022, Meituan adjusted and updated the statistical caliber, and adjusted the original catering takeaway, to stores, hotels and tourism, new business and other sectors to core local business and new business.

After the adjustment, the core local business segments mainly include the original catering takeaway and delivery, hotel and tourism segments, as well as Meituan flash sale, homestay and transportation ticketing.

Meituan continued to focus on meeting local consumer demand. Driven by this, Meituan’s core local business achieved steady growth in the first half of the year, with revenue of 94.085 billion yuan, an increase of 32.6% year-on-year.

Among them, Meituan’s core local business revenue reached 51.20 billion yuan in the second quarter, an increase of 39.2% year-on-year. Operating profit increased by 34.8% year-on-year to 11.10 billion yuan, and operating profit margin was 21.8%.

Meituan Quarter 1’s core local business revenue reached 42.90 billion yuan, an increase of 25.5% year-on-year. Operating profit was 9.40 billion yuan, an increase of 100.7% year-on-year; while operating profit margin increased to 22.0% from 13.8% in the same period in 2022. Second quarter revenue growth was significantly faster than Quarter 1.

Meituan’s instant retail scene and richness continue to expand. In the second quarter, the number of instant delivery orders increased by 31.6% year-on-year to 5.40 billion orders. By strengthening supply and optimizing subsidy strategies, the stickiness between users and platforms has further increased. In this context, Meituan’s monthly takeaway orders reached a record high in August.

Stimulated by numerous holiday consumption and marketing activities in the second quarter, the online penetration rate of electronic products and home appliances in second- and third-tier cities accelerated significantly, and categories such as daily necessities, beauty and personal care, and maternal and infant products all showed strong quarterly growth.

Meituan’s "Little Yellow Light Health Guardian Alliance" plans to launch digital pharmacies that can see a doctor 24 hours a day to buy medicine in 1,000 counties this year, and is expected to meet the needs of county residents 100 million times this year.

The peak order volume of Meituan flash sale exceeded 11 million orders again in the second quarter, and the demand side in turn promoted the richness of the supply side on the platform. The number of active merchants in Meituan flash sale increased by 30% year-on-year.

Meituan helps serve the digital transformation of the retail industry. The number of new merchants entering Meituan takeaway in the quarter more than doubled year-on-year, of which the growth rate of brand merchants was particularly strong; the transaction volume of the wine and hotel business increased by more than 120% compared with the same period last year, and the number of annual active merchants and annual transaction users also reached a new high.

Meituan’s hotel and tourism business saw strong growth in the second quarter as the domestic tourism industry continued to pick up. "Hotel + X" package products were enriched for leisure travel and vacation scenarios. Deepen cooperation with more hotel brands to improve pricing power. Increase the supply of overseas hotels and expand the outbound travel customer base. In terms of homestays, enhance the experience of consumers and landlords, and better match demand and supply.

New Business Second Quarter Revenue Growth Slower Than Quarter 1

The new businesses mainly include Meituan Preferred, Meituan market, catering supply chain (fast donkey), online car-hailing, shared bicycles, shared motorcycles, power banks, restaurant management systems and other new businesses.

Meituan’s new business revenue in the first half of the year was 32.497 billion yuan, an increase of 23.8% year-on-year. The operating loss was 10.222 billion yuan, and the operating loss in the same period last year was 15.243 billion yuan.

Among them, the second quarter revenue of new business 16.80 billion yuan, an increase of 18.4%. Operating loss narrowed 23.5% year-on-year to 5.20 billion yuan, and the operating loss rate improved to 31.0%.

New business Quarter 1 revenue rose 30.1% year-on-year to 15.70 billion yuan. Operating loss narrowed 40.5% year-on-year to 5 billion yuan, while operating loss ratio continued to improve to 32.0%. From this point of view, the second quarter recovery of new business is not as good as Quarter 1.

In the second quarter, Meituan Preferred transaction volume and revenue continued to grow year-on-year, but the growth rate declined due to the lower-than-expected growth rate of the overall market. Operational efficiency improved significantly compared to the same period last year. Meituan Preferred revenue, recognized on a net basis, declined quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to higher subsidies, which led to lower average price of pieces.

Meituan’s quarterly operating loss widened quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to business expansion, increased subsidies to drive growth, spending on cold chain and logistics to cope with the upcoming hot weather, and seasonal product portfolio changes.

Meituan said that although it faces difficulties in optimizing its business model in the short term, it believes that the online process of groceries will continue, and remains confident in the long-term potential of Meituan Preferred. As of the end of June, Meituan Preferred has reached 470 million cumulative trading users.

Despite a high base in the same period last year, Meituan market recorded a solid year-on-year growth in the second quarter and achieved a higher market share. The proportion of transactions of standard products and private brands continued to increase, effectively increasing the frequency of users.

In June, Wang Huiwen resigned as a non-executive director of Meituan due to personal health reasons. Subsequently, Meituan announced the completion of the acquisition of 100% of the shares of domestic and foreign entities outside the light year, and the purchase price was about 2.065 billion.

In July, Meituan drone fourth-generation new models were released. Meituan drone has been operating in multiple cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, and has delivered nearly 170,000 orders in two years. The financial report shows that Meituan’s R & D expenditure in the second quarter increased to 5.40 billion yuan year-on-year.

Meituan’s sales and marketing expenses increased from 9 billion yuan in the second quarter of 2022 to 14.60 billion yuan in the same period in 2023. This was mainly due to the recovery in consumption and changes in the business environment, resulting in higher transaction user incentive, promotion and advertising expenses, and higher employee benefits expenses.

The company’s general and administrative expenses decreased from $2.50 billion in the second quarter of 2022 to $2.10 billion in the same period in 2023, mainly due to lower employee benefit expenses and improved operating leverage.

Meituan CFO Chen Shaohui said that in the first half of this year, the local life sector benefited from the vigorous growth momentum of commodity retail and service retail, meeting more new demand and creating more new supply. In the future, Meituan will further promote the digital upgrade of the commodity retail and service retail industry.

Chen Weicheng, Shell Financial Reporter, Beijing News

Editor, Chao Xu

Proofreading, Liu Baoqing

　　Zhang Laifu, an order-taking champion of an online car-hailing platform, wipes the vehicle between waiting for customers. Xinhua News Agency reporter, photo by Luo Xiaoguang

　　Recently, the news that drivers of a certain online ride-hailing platform cannot withdraw cash has been hyped up, and the discussion on who will protect the labor rights and interests of online ride-hailing drivers has also become heated.

　　The sharing economy is surging, and the "threshold" for providing labor services has been lowered to the extent that everyone can participate. How to protect the rights and interests of workers under this "flexible employment" has reached a level that cannot be ignored.

　　What is the relationship between Internet platforms and workers? There is still much debate

　　Mr. Yu, a Beijing-based taxi driver, has been taking orders through a well-known online ride-hailing platform for the past two years. Talking about why he wanted to work as a taxi driver, Mr. Yu said that he was in his 40s and could not find a good job in his hometown in Hebei. He felt that the income from driving a car was not bad, so he went to Beijing to work. "The situation like mine is very common among the car drivers I know."

　　Master Yu told reporters that when he first arrived, he was employed by a certain online car-hailing platform. After signing an employment contract, his monthly salary was about five or six thousand yuan, and the company paid five insurances and one housing fund for him.

　　"But after all, it’s still someone else’s car," so Master Yu gritted his teeth and took out a loan to buy a private car worth more than 200,000 yuan. Master Yu said that now as a full-time car driver, "after deducting various operating costs, the monthly net income is about 7,000 to 8,000 yuan."

　　But Master Yu also has troubles. After the labor relationship with the last online car-hailing company was terminated, the new platform was not responsible for paying five insurances and one gold for it, and Master Yu was not willing to spend the money himself. "Now I don’t pay social security anymore."

　　Drivers like Mr. Yu are facing problems with their way out when Beijing’s online car-hailing platform begins to implement the "Beijing Citizenship and Beijing License" policy on May 1. Since there is no labor relationship with the online car-hailing platform, he has not yet figured out what to do next. "The platform has to take about 20% of the fee for each order." Mr. Yu said that discounts and subsidies for drivers have also been cut a lot in the past two years. "It is unreasonable that the platform is only responsible for taking a percentage, but it does not have any obligations to the special car."

　　Online car-hailing has worn the halo of "sharing economy" since its inception. However, for such a brand-new thing as "sharing economy", the current laws and regulations have not clearly stipulated the relationship between Internet platforms and workers, and there is still a lot of debate among academics and the public.

　　At present, the most important basis for the management of online car-hailing is the "Interim Measures for the Management of Online Booking Taxi Business Services" (hereinafter referred to as the "Interim Measures") implemented on November 1, 2016, which stipulates: "Online car-hailing platform companies… In accordance with relevant laws and regulations, according to the characteristics of working hours and service frequency, sign various forms of employment contracts or agreements with drivers to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties."

　　The regulation does not explicitly define the labor relationship between the two parties, but rather gives an open-ended option to "enter into various forms of employment contracts or agreements."

　　In this regard, Liu Xiaoming, Vice Minister of Transport, said at the press conference of the State Information Office last year that in the process of soliciting opinions on the "Interim Measures", the relevant content of the original exposure draft clearly requires the signing of employment contracts has been revised, and according to the special circumstances such as part-time in the online car-hailing, the current regulations have adopted more flexible employment methods.

　　"At present, there is no conclusive and consistent international opinion on online car-hailing," Mr. Liu said. "Even in the US, where online car-hailing originated, different states have implemented different management strategies, and their positioning, labor relations, price management and other aspects are still in the process of exploration."

　　The standards for judging labor relations should be further observed and no haste should be drawn

　　In fact, shortly after the "Interim Provisions" were issued, the Beijing Haidian Court heard the first online car-hailing traffic case in China. In this case, when a car-hailing car picked up a single passenger, it caused damages due to a traffic accident between the passenger opening the door and others. The Haidian Court held in the first instance that the driver of the online car-hailing car was assigned by the platform to perform the passenger contract between the platform and the passenger. The driver belongs to the party providing labor services, so the platform should bear the corresponding tort liability as the party accepting the driver’s labor services. Experts said that identifying the platform company as the carrier and the order assigned by the platform as the passenger contract between the platform company and the passenger actually implied that the court affirmed that there was a certain labor relationship between the online car-hailing driver and the platform company.

　　In traditional labour law theory, the determination of whether there is a labour relationship is mainly based on the theory of subordination, that is, whether it has organizational subordination, management subordination and economic subordination. Today, the basis for determining labour relations is mainly the "Notice on Matters Related to the Establishment of Labour Relations" issued in 2005. "But in the past two years, various new business models have emerged one after another, and relying solely on the" Notice "can no longer meet the practical needs." Professor Jiang Ying, dean of the law school of the China Institute of Labour Relations, said.

　　Jiang Ying analysis, the current network about the car is mainly divided into two categories: one is the B2C model, the platform company and the network about the car driver signed a formal employment contract, making it a regular employee of the company; the other is the C2C model, the network about the car driver has considerable autonomy, not fully affiliated with the company, so in defining its labor relations, the "Interim Provisions" adopted a cautious attitude.

　　Jiang Ying mentioned that in the US judicial and legal precedent, the judgment standard of labor relations mainly depends on the actual degree of control of the platform company for the driver. Through setting a number of standards for comprehensive judgment, if the degree of control is strong, it is determined that there is a labor relationship. "As for how to judge labor relations under the new sharing economy model, we should further observe and do not rush to conclusions," Jiang Ying said.

　　It is recommended that relevant departments introduce policies as soon as possible to provide stable expectations for relevant industries and enterprises

　　"However, the public needs to clarify a misunderstanding in understanding, that is, only the existence of labor relations can protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees." Jiang Ying said that it is not to protect the rights and interests of employees that they must be included in labor relations to protect them.

　　Jiang Ying said that first of all, the rights and interests of online car-hailing drivers can be protected through the relevant provisions of the employment relationship in the civil law. Second, the "Interim Regulations" allow online car-hailing drivers to sign various forms of employment contracts or agreements with platform companies, and workers can stipulate corresponding rights and obligations in the employment agreement. "Of course, the power of individuals is relatively weak, so on the one hand, government supervision and guidance are very important, and on the other hand, we must also rely on the power of market regulation." Jiang Ying believes that in order to retain a stable and excellent driver group in the market competition, enterprises need to offer more favorable conditions, which is the bargaining chip that the market may provide for negotiations.

　　"Enterprises excluded employment from the scope of labor law norms, and it did not start with the sharing economy." Wang Xiangqian, a lawyer at Shuangli Law Firm in Beijing and a director of the China Labor Law Research Association, believes that whether to incorporate this new form of employment into the field of labor law is a public policy choice that can only be made after weighing the pros and cons. Wang Xiangqian said that the main body of this game includes workers, enterprises, society and the state, and needs to balance the potentially conflicting values such as labor rights and interests, employment factors, economic vitality, social costs and so on, and make choices.

　　"It is recommended that the relevant departments investigate as soon as possible and come up with corresponding policies." Wang Xiangqian said that if this form of employment is already widespread in various industries and fields, it will hurt the bones if you want to regulate it. "By giving relevant industries and enterprises expectations as soon as possible, they can avoid the policy and legal risks in development, which is not only conducive to the development of enterprises, but also conducive to the protection of workers’ rights, and social responsibility can also be fully guaranteed." (Reporter, Zhang Cheng)

　　The Ministry of Public Security recently released statistics,In the first three quarters of this year, 3.713 million new energy vehicles were registered nationwide, up 98.48% year-on-year.

　　△ CCTV Finance "punctuality finance" column video

　　According to the statistics of the Ministry of Public Security, by the end of September, the number of new energy vehicles had reached 11.49 million, with 3.713 million newly registered in the first three quarters. Among them, the number of pure electric vehicles is 9.26 million, accounting for 80.56% of the total number of new energy vehicles. In the first three quarters of this year, 3.713 million new energy vehicles were registered nationwide, an increase of 1.842 million vehicles year-on-year, an increase of 98.48%, accounting for 21.34% of the newly registered vehicles. In the third quarter of this year, the number of newly registered new energy vehicles reached 1.495 million, with an average monthly registration of 498,000, which was significantly higher than the average monthly registration of 370,000 in the first half of this year.

　　In the first three quarters, the used car market remained active, and the number of motor vehicle transfer registrations reached 16.4 million. In the first three quarters of this year, local public security traffic control departments handled a total of 16.4 million motor vehicle transfer registrations, including 15.35 million motor vehicle transfer registrations, accounting for 93.55%. In the first three quarters of this year, the ratio of car transfer registration to new car registration reached 1:1.13, which was significantly higher than 1:1.24 in the same period last year.

　　In recent years, the Ministry of Public Security, together with the Ministry of Commerce and other departments, has promoted the implementation of reform measures to facilitate the registration of second-hand car transactions in different places, which has better promoted the circulation of second-hand cars. In the first three quarters of this year, the number of second-hand passenger cars directly registered in different places reached 2.575 million.