STORY: As China’s job market shrinks, a rush of newcomers is oversaturating gig economy jobs like ride-hailing.

It’s eating into the income of existing full-timers like Li Weimin and dragging out his work hours.

He’s near Shanghai's most prominent train station, which used to be a hot pickup spot.

But he’s out of luck. Or possibly, the competition for customers is now just much tougher.

“I must persist, because after all, due to the effects of the pandemic, even if I want to give up this job, it’s difficult to find other jobs now. There is no other job to find.”

China saw 400,000 new registered ride-hailing drivers in the sector between April and July, flooding the market with a 7 percent surge.

It comes as the world’s second-largest economy has sputtered trying to pivot out of some of the world’s harshest lockdowns, with youth unemployment soaring.

China’s statistics bureau said on Tuesday it would stop releasing youth jobless data after record high readings – over a fifth unemployed as of June.

Market analyst Wang Ke points out ride-hailing naturally became the first choice for quick cash for a growing number of jobless people.

“Because of the impact of three years of the pandemic, many companies and small enterprises may have gone bankrupt or gone out of business, so a lot of idle labour will enter the market. There has also been a sharp decline in the number of jobs. There are some advantages from the perspective of ride-hailing. First of all, it has a higher degree of freedom than other jobs. Compared to a job where you need to clock in at work, you can pick up customers or just stop working whenever you want to stop. Second, online ride-hailing has a relatively low threshold for entry.”

Some cities, like Shanghai, have suspended issuing new ride-hailing permits.

But even with less drivers, economists say making a living is likely to become more difficult for many people in China as it enters a period of much slower economic growth.

For many in the ride-hailing sector, each day is bleaker than the last.

Working longer hours to earn the same money they did months ago.

It's the only option for those with family to support like Zhu Zhimin, who spends 15 hours behind the wheel.

"The only thing on my mind everyday is just making money, because our parents are getting old, my kids are going to junior high, high school. Conditions for my family aren't great. So why am I so hard working? It's because there are a lot of ways my family needs to use the money."