The Commission on the Sharing Economy under the Internet Society of China, together with the IT Research Department of the State Information Center, published the 2016 report on China’s sharing economy, the first of its kind, on Sunday.
According to the report, the market scale of China’s sharing economy was estimated at USD 1.95 trillion in 2015, with over 500 million citizens participating, and in the following five years, the yearly growth rate is estimated to reach 40%. By 2020, this sector could take up 10% of the gross domestic product.
The sharing economy, referring to peer-to-peer sharing of goods and services increasingly through online platforms, has its origins in America, but has seen fast development in China. A company like Didi Kuaidi is a model representative of a business operating in this sector.
According to the Chief Development Officer of Didi Kuaidi, James Li, the company expanded its business to over 400 Chinese cities in a little over three years after launching, with more than 80% of Chinese taxies equipped with Didi Kuaidi’s app.
Li also said Didi registered over 10 million new active users in January 2016 alone, bringing the platform’s monthly gross merchandise volume (GMV) to USD 800 million, more than the aggregate rideshare GMV for the North American market (estimated at circa USD 600 million).
According to the China Urban Smart Transportation Report for 2015 published in January, Didi completed 1.43 billion rides across its seven businesses over the course of last year.
The Commission on Sharing Economy was set up last December, and includes more than 40 companies across seven industry sectors as members of the commission including companies in life services, medical care, education & training, social media, communication, financing and travel. Among the members are Didi Kuaidi, Airbnb, Meituan, Ant Financial and WiFi Master Key.
The commission also has Robin Chase, one of the earliest proponents of the sharing economy, as an honorary advisor. She is an established transportation entrepreneur who co-founded the largest car-sharing company in the world, Zipcar.
(Top photo from Jnsb.e23.cn)
