As the rest of the world argues over the pros and cons of the so-called sharing economy, China has taken a big step towards making the sector part of the mainstream.
"The Commission on [the] Sharing Economy in China" (CSE) launched yesterday and includes taxi and transportation app Didi Kuaidi as one of its co-founders, as well as internet giant Tencent, tech manufacturer Lenovo and Linked In China.
There are no accommodation providers currently involved.
The initiative has been launched by The Internet Society of China which is a non-governmental organization, although the official announcement of the CSE launch quoted a number of government figures.
A Ministry of Trade director said that "we should not only avoid setting up new hurdles to this fledgling industry, but also introduce favourable financial and tax incentives to foster its growth."
And a director from the National Development & Reform Commission said that the "sharing economy is complementary to China's new Internet+ development strategy."
On a global scale, China, with its"700 million internet users, 530 million smartphone users and a sweeping urbanization process" could create a sharing economy which, in isolation, could match most countries' sharing and non-sharing economies combined.
On the other hand, cynics might note that the businesses currently running the CSE are all Chinese-based, and that until it welcomes businesses from outside China - Uber and Airbnb for example - then the phrase "sharing economy" is a bit of a misnomer.
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