We cannot emphasize enough the importance of safety and sanitation towards the industry.
State Information Centre (国家信息中心) issued a standard featuring home-share market on Nov 15, along with Xiaozhu (小猪短租), Tujia （途家）and Airbnb, etc. The Home-sharing service criterion is drafted by GU Huimin (谷慧敏), the president of Administration Academy of Beijing International Studies University, and set after combining with delegates' opinion from the industry and in cooperation with accommodation providers. The authorities formulate the standards in the aspects of urban accommodation community relationship, personal information verification, accommodation source investigation, sanitation service, personal information protection, blacklist sharing and smart safety equipment usage. It is the first time that three parties including platform, host and tenant, are all under the standard’s control, which also fits in rural area and urban.
Nowadays home-sharing industry is now penetrating third-and fourth-tier cities and rural areas, which is now seen as the key to rural economic growth and poverty alleviation. Xiaozhu data showed homestay bookings related to third-and fourth-tier cities and rural areas increased the most in the first half of this year.
Xiaozhu has 35 million active users and global listings exceeding 420,000 units across 400 Chinese cities and some 250 overseas destinations as of Sep 2018, the six-year-old startup secured USD 300 million On Oct 10 led by Alibaba Group-backed Yunfeng Fund（云峰基金）. Other investors include Chinese innovation-driven Advantech Capital（尚珹资本）, Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), Joy Capital（愉悦资本）, Morningside Venture Capital（晨兴资本）and Capital Today（今日资本）. Xiaozhu is building its service system to lay a foundation for further development and expect me people could become participants and beneficiaries of the sharing economy. The company is facing fierce competition with Airbnb, and other domestic players such as Tujia in China.
The home-sharing industry now in China is just showing a tip of the iceberg, According to a SIC report, the market for home-sharing services is expanding rapidly in the country. In 2017, the country's home-sharing market earned CNY 14.5 billion( USD 2.2 billion) in revenues, up 70.6% year-on-year . However, the market is comparatively young just like any other branches of sharing economy. Standards are needed to control and slow down the pace of heading out. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of safety and sanitation towards the industry where customers are using service provided by person but not a hotel, especially home-sharing in rural areas has huge growth potential, based on more younger customers are pursuing uniqueness and willing to explore remote areas.
——Author: LinYan. Write to LinYan at LinYan@EqualOcean.com