On August 12th, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, the security guards at the Green City Xixi Century Center forced a female food delivery rider to kneel down, sparking protests from delivery workers, leading to the authorities deploying special police forces to maintain stability.
A circulated image on August 12th showed a female rider kneeling by the roadside. Some netizens revealed that a conflict had occurred between a security guard at the Green City Xixi Century Center in Hangzhou and a food delivery rider, with reports suggesting that the security guard requested the delivery rider to kneel down.
According to a netizen’s description of the incident, the female rider was delivering food but couldn’t find a direct road to the destination by the river. Therefore, she parked her vehicle and crossed a green area to reach the destination. Upon returning, she accidentally damaged a fence. The property management noticed the broken fence, removed the key to her electric bike, and demanded a fine of 200 yuan. The security guard requested compensation for the damage and only returned the key after the rider knelt down. The food delivery worker had to kneel down to retrieve her vehicle ultimately.
It was circulated online that the kneeling food delivery worker is a part-time female college student.
After the photo of the kneeling incident spread within the local delivery worker communities on platforms like “Meituan” and “Ele.me,” hundreds of food delivery riders gathered at the Xixi Century Center to protest.
A circulated video showed that on the afternoon of the 12th, near the Green City Xixi Century Center in Hangzhou, the riders demanded a public apology from the property security. The Communist Party dispatched special police forces to maintain order at the scene.
According to a report by First Financial, “Meituan” has temporarily suspended food delivery services near the Xixi Century Center, stating, “Delivery services are currently unavailable in your area.” Likewise, the “Ele.me” platform displayed “unable to provide delivery services” for locations behind the Xixi Century Center.
Public information indicates that the Green City Xixi Century Center is a Grade A office project, with a portion functioning as mixed residential and commercial spaces. The property management fee ranges from 5.5 to 9 yuan per square meter per month, and the property management company is Green City Services, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The project developer is Zhejiang Aiyin Hufen Real Estate Co., Ltd.
This incident immediately garnered attention on the internet.
Senior consultant of Shanghai Xinhua Financial Investment Co., Ltd., and financial blogger “Finance Senior Zhang” wrote, “When everyone is struggling for three meals a day, kneeling down is truly compromising with life. Being late with a delivery order is indeed significant for food delivery workers; let’s try to understand each other.”
Some netizens commented: “When you worry about tuition fees and struggle for a living, what is dignity? She is just a young person entering society.” “Why trouble the poor with more hardships?” “Workers at the grassroots level hurting each other, it’s so hot, food delivery workers are working so hard, let’s not give negative reviews, kind-hearted people, please give them a tip.”
“The behavior of the security guard is just a symptom, but who pushed the security guard to behave this way, and who gave him the audacity to act like this?” “Harming each other at the bottom level, the root lies at the edge of the North Sea!” “The first to awaken turned out to be the food delivery team.”
Another netizen added, “Unlike Lu Xun, Hu Shi attributed China’s backwardness to the poor quality of the people, while Hu Shi attributed it to the imperfection of the social system. A hundred years have passed, who hits the nail on the head?”