According to a recent report by the State Information Center, China’s sharing economy has maintained steady growth, reaching approximately 3.83 trillion yuan ($555.54 billion) in transactions in 2022, a 3.9 percent year-on-year increase. Despite facing multiple headwinds, the sharing economy in China has been booming in recent years, with companies facilitating ride sharing, bike sharing, home sharing, and even battery pack pooling.
While the report highlighted that different segments of the sharing economy showed diverging performance last year, shared services and consumption continued to play a prominent role in stabilizing China’s economic development. Online takeout services, for example, accounted for 25.4 percent of the total revenue of the country’s dining industry in 2022, a 4 percentage point increase from the previous year. Online ride-hailing trips made up about 40.5 percent of the total taxi trips, a 6.4 percentage point increase from a year earlier. Additionally, shared accommodation accounted for 4.4 percent of the country’s total accommodation revenue.
The report also noted some emerging trends in the sharing economy, including a faster pace of reshaping in segments such as shared transportation and life services and intensified competition. The market has become more regulated, with strengthened law enforcement and improvements in relevant rules and norms.
Looking forward, the report predicts that the policy environment for the sharing economy will continue to improve and that ongoing oversight of platform firms will help stabilize market expectations and confidence. Despite the challenges faced by certain segments of the sharing economy, the overall outlook remains positive.
China’s sharing economy is not only driving economic growth, but it is also transforming the way people live and work. Over 60 percent of Chinese netizens ordered takeouts online in 2022, while the proportion of those using car-hailing and accommodation-sharing services reached 38.54 percent and 6.63 percent, respectively. As the sharing economy continues to grow and evolve, it will undoubtedly have a significant impact on China’s economy and society as a whole.