Chinese supermarket chain Pangdonglai has announced the recruitment of former convicts for the second year in a row, expanding its hiring scope to employees who have spent at least five years in prison. The move has sparked renewed debate over the line between reducing employment discrimination against former inmates and upholding public safety.

The plan, announced Aug. 14 by the company’s branch in Zhengzhou, capital of the central Henan province, involves recruiting 20 people who have served sentences of at least five years. The store is set to open in October.

Pangdonglai was founded by Yu Donglai in 1995. Based in Henan’s Xuchang City, it has gained a reputation for offering relatively high pay, shorter working hours, and generous time off — emphasizing employee well-being over profit.

Employees work no more than 36 hours per week — in China, the legal limit is 40 hours — and receive 40 days of paid leave annually, including 10 “mental health” days. In the first quarter of 2026, employees’ average monthly salary was 9,600 yuan ($1,400), compared with roughly 5,800 yuan at China’s private wholesale and retail businesses.

Last year, the company recruited former convicts for the first time. Applicants were required to have served no more than 10 years in prison, be under the age of 35, and have a middle school education or higher.

Yu said in a Saturday post on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, that all 30 former convicts hired last year remain employed by the company.

This year, the company looks to recruit former inmates who have served sentences of at least five years.

The move quickly divided opinion online. Supporters praised the company for giving convicts a second chance. Lin Minming, founder of Red Apple Public Welfare, an organization that supports the children of prisoners, told domestic media that the company’s decision to continue hiring ex-convicts, particularly those who “may be facing even more difficult employment challenges,” is “worth paying attention to.”

“In the past, people would make baseless assumptions when talking about this issue — worrying that former inmates would be difficult to manage, unstable, or likely to cause problems,” Lin said. “Now that there’s at least a group of real (ex-convicts) working in a real company, we can see what happens.”

Former inmates in China face significant barriers to finding jobs. Fewer than 40% secure employment because of their criminal records, according to local media.

But others raised concerns. “Many people serving more than five years (in prison) were convicted of serious crimes,” one user wrote online. “Supermarkets are crowded places frequented by ordinary people, including children and the elderly. People who have turned their lives around deserve a second chance, but customer safety should not be overlooked.”

Others argued that giving special opportunities to former inmates is unfair to those who have always obeyed the law.
Responding to the concerns, the company told domestic media that people convicted of sexual or violent offenses are ineligible, and that applicants with nonviolent offenses will be prioritized. It added that those hired will initially be assigned to back-office positions such as warehousing and logistics, rather than customer-facing jobs, and undergo a six-month trial period.

China has been strengthening support for former inmates returning to society. A revised Prison Law, passed in April and set to take effect this November, states that discriminating against former convicts in employment, education, or social security matters is illegal.

Former inmates will also be required to undergo “pre-release education” — including legal and psychological counseling, vocational training, and daily-life skills — encouraging them to pursue employment and entrepreneurship.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: Customers crowd a Pangdonglai supermarket in Xuchang, Henan province, May 1, 2026. VCG)