Time sharing economy lived up to its name

Perhaps there is no term as popular, yet controversial, as "sharing economy" to be the buzzword for 2017 in China. Just as the first sentence in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times", for the sharing economy in 2017.

The sharing economy has gained widespread popularity not only because of the capital invested in its projects but also because of the support it has got from the authorities. According to State Information Center's China Sharing Economy Development Report 2017, the trade volume of the sharing economy reached 3.45 trillion yuan ($532 billion) in 2016; and it is expected to maintain a 40 percent growth rate in the coming few years. It was even written into the 2016 and 2017 Government Work Report.

But the development trend of the sharing economy suddenly hit the brakes in the latter half of last year, even if temporarily. According to incomplete statistics, last year 27 sharing economy startups went out of business, including seven shared bicycle enterprises, seven shared power bank enterprises, four shared clothes enterprises, and three shared toy enterprises and three shared automobile enterprises. In addition, one-third of the failed sharing economy companies lasted less than one year, prompting the media to call it "the crematorium of startups", and many people to question the existing model of the sharing economy.