Riding shared bikes, charging phones with shared battery packs, playing shared basketball, and singing in shared karaoke booths, about 600 million people participated in China’s sharing economy in 2016—contributing over $500 billion in transactions, according to a State Information Center report.
The success of shared bikes has spawned the novel idea of “What’s yours is mine,” the idea that everything can be on loaned thanks to the development of mobile technology.
(The photo of the basketball-sharing locker)
Basketball-sharing services enable users to rent balls by scanning QR codes. After paying a 69 yuan ($10.17) deposit fee with WeChat, a basketball can be rented for one yuan ($0.15) per hour. Students with ID cards can rent basketballs for free. The service has gained popularity as basketballs are difficult to carry but easy to lose.
(The photo of a shared KTV)
Karaoke (“KTV“) have sprung up in shopping malls and subways all over China to help people kill the time. The booths are sound proof and users can record and download their performances from the pod.
(The photo of a health hut)
With a treadmill and an air purifier inside each Health Hut, the 4-to-5-square-meter shared exercise rooms allow users to exercise cheaply without the crowds. Users can make appointments in advance and charges are calculated at a rate of 0.20 yuan per minute.
(The photo of shared battery packs)
Bases of shared portable batteries are set up in shopping malls, restaurants, and other public places, allowing users to rent the batteries by scanning a QR code with a mobile app for around 0.5 yuan ($0.075) each half hour. Competition in the shared-battery space is fierce, with several battery-sharing start-ups already locked in patent infringement lawsuits in the early stage of the industry.