Ningbo introduces performance-based job service funding

Residents work on handicrafts at a gig-work center in Ningbo's Beilun district. [Photo/Yongpai app] 

Ningbo is introducing a performance-based funding policy that rewards organizations for providing practical help to job seekers and entrepreneurs.

Under the new policy, service providers earn points for actions such as posting job openings, connecting workers with jobs, organizing job fairs, offering one-on-one guidance to entrepreneurs, and helping startups find workspace. Providers that reach the annual threshold receive a basic subsidy of 20,000 yuan ($2,975), while those with higher scores can receive additional rewards.

The policy is particularly relevant to Ningbo's large pool of flexible and gig workers. In Beilun district, Li Hong, a local courier's wife and mother of twins, recently took her children to a neighborhood gig-work center, where she found piecework that could be completed on site.

Her children worked on their homework beside her while she earned around 1,000 to 2,000 yuan a month from the work. The center connects residents with companies looking for workers and has already posted more than 30,000 job opportunities, helping generate more than 5,000 employment matches.

This new system also covers organizations that support entrepreneurs. Yonggang Modern Science and Technology Park, which had served more than 3,100 companies by the end of 2025, is reviewing its services against the new targets, including support for entrepreneurs and help with project competitions.

By tying funding to specific services and outcomes, Ningbo aims to bring more social organizations into its employment and entrepreneurship support network.