In China, umbrellas and basketballs join the sharing economy

Sharing accounted for $500 bn in transactions in 2016, would be 10% of economic output by 2020

China may be oversharing.

First, a brutal and costly ride-hailing war drove Uber out of the country. Then a boom in bike-sharing blanketed city streets with unused bicycles.

Today, Chinese start-ups want to share umbrellas, concrete mixers and mobile phone power banks. One wants to share basketballs.

As Chinese entrepreneurs and investors pile in, some skeptical industry insiders are wondering: Has China reached “peak sharing?”

“After all these years, China is finally embracing its communist roots,” said Andy Tian, an entrepreneur and co-founder of Asia Innovations Group in Beijing. “That’s the essence of communism: Communal sharing.”

“But there’s no question that it’s a bubble,” he