China's sharing economy approaches bubble territory
Chinese venture capital firms invested $31bn in 2016, up almost 20% YoY, with much of the funding flowing towards companies in the sharing economy, according to KPMG. Along with popular bike-sharing firms such as Ofo and ride-hailing operators like Didi Chuxing, China is now home to start-ups that let consumers rent anything from basketballs to umbrellas. However, some investors fear that the country's sharing economy is approaching bubble status. “We’re seeing a lot of money bouncing around and foolish investments being made,” Zhou Wei, CEO of XNode, a Shanghai-based start-up accelerator and co-working space, told The New York Times. 
“But there’s no question that it’s a bubble,” he added. “It may have roots in something valuable, but can you really share everything?”

Chinese entrepreneurs like Xu Min think that, quite possibly, you can. In March, the 30-year-old serial entrepreneur from Jiaxing, a town in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, came up with the idea of a basketball-sharing service after he heard some friends complain about the inconvenience of carrying a ball around.

Just four days later, Mr. Xu set up Zhulegeqiu, which in Chinese is a pun that roughly means “Rent a Ball.” It lets users rent basketballs from custom-designed automated lockers at basketball courts around the country. To rent a ball, users scan a code on the locker with their smartphone camera, unlocking a compartment holding a basketball.

Zhulegeqiu charges users about one renminbi, or about 15 cents, per hour for rental. A deposit of about $10 is required unless the user has a high rating on Sesame Credit, the social credit scoring system developed by China’s Ant Financial, an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

“In the long run, it may be more cost-effective to buy rather than rent a ball,” Mr. Xu said. “But we think Chinese users are willing to pay a little more for convenience.”