Shared umbrellas serve moist Guiyang

Some 10,000 public umbrellas popped up around Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, on July 7, just in time for the rainy season.

Guiyang residents can now download an app, and after placing a 29 yuan ($4.3) deposit may use the shared umbrellas at a cost of 1 yuan per hour.

Publicly shared umbrellas debut at the entrance of an underpass in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, on July 7. [Photo/news.gog.cn]

The umbrellas, supplied by a Shenzhen-based company, have proved popular in Guiyang so far with about 7,000 people signing up to the app on the first day alone.

To help those who often forget to bring an umbrella during the rainy season, the Shenzhen company has put more than 320,000 umbrellas in 13 cities across Southern China. They plan to put about 400,000 shared umbrellas in Guiyang in the future.

"The cost of each umbrella is 62 yuan," said Zhao Shuping, manager of the company. "The rental fees only account for a very small proportion of the profits, with the bulk coming from advertising printed on the umbrellas themselves."

With the increased popularity of publicly shared bicycles, the concept of a sharing economy has recently become popular in China. As well as shared umbrellas, shared cars and shared power banks have also become available.