Migrant Workers in Beijing Feel Pinch of Ride-Hailing Shake-Up

Residents of Houchangcun village, most of whom are Didi drivers, eat dinner in the night market on Nov.13. The village, in Beijing's Zhongguancun district, is surrounded by giant Internet companies, a famous primary school and luxury residential areas. Photo: Yang Yifan/Caixin

(Beijing) — Winter came early to an urban village on the outskirts of Beijing, whose 5,000 residents have been losing their jobs for months as the city government redefines ride-hailing and the sector's biggest company cuts driver subsidies.

"Look over there — those men are all Didi drivers," said a fruit vendor in Houchangcun village in the northwestern part of Beijing, pointing at a group of men playing poker under a tree during the daytime.