Car Rental Rate Hits Record High in Beijing

Ninety-five percent of Beijing's rental cars have been snapped up by travelers eager to see the sights during China's seven-day National Day holiday, a city official said Wednesday.

The Chinese capital has about 200 car rental businesses with about 20,000 cars -- about 40 percent of the country's total cars for renting.

Zhang Changrong, head of the Car Rental Administration of Beijing Municipal Communications Bureau, said that as of Wednesday, about 95 percent of the cars had been rented, compared with normal car rental rate of 70 percent.

The few cars left are not roadworthy, the official said.

In an random telephone interview with 20 car rental businesses listed in the Beijing Yellow Pages, Xinhua was told that there were no cars available with the exception of one company, which had a single auto left for grabs.

Most of those renting the cars are employees of overseas- funded companies or private businesses, who are classified as Beijing's white-collar or higher-paid workers.

The national day holiday runs from Oct. 1-7.

There are 1.6 million motor vehicles in Beijing, with about 2.6 million driver's licenses issued to local residents.

NPC Deputy Calls for Developing Car Rental Business

The general manager of a leading Chinese car manufacturer on March 8 submitted a proposal to the National People's Congress (NPC) session, urging the development of car rental business in China.

Zhang Shirui, general manager of the Dongfeng-Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. and a deputy to the NPC, said car rental business has spread to China where renting a car for personal use is expected to become a new focus of consumption given the current purchasing power of the Chinese people.

In 2000 alone, some 240,000 Chinese purchased their private cars, but to most Chinese, having a private car is still a dream though more than 26 million of them hold a driver's license.

"The family car market is unlikely to grow on a large scale in China in the coming one or two years due to a range of restrictions that dampen private car purchases," he said. "In addition, ordinary Chinese still cannot afford a family car."

Under such circumstances, car rental can help car lovers to enjoy driving, according to the car company executive, who said he feels excited at learning about the policy to encourage the development of family cars in the draft 10th Five-Year Plan now being deliberated at the current NPC session.





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