(Yicai Global) July 3 -- China's home-sharing market, mostly occupied by Airbnb, Xiaozhu,  Ctrip-backed Tujia and Meituan-Dianping's Zhenguo, will keep on  expanding rapidly in the next few years due to the nation's policy  support for tourism and an increasing public preference for non-hotel  lodging, according to a think tank.

The annual growth rate  will be 50 percent over the next three years, and demand for mid to  high-end living services will expand while competition will accelerate  between different platforms, The Paper reported, citing data from the  Sharing Economy Research Institute of the National Information Center.

The nation's total  home-sharing turnover grew nearly 38 percent from the previous year to  CNY16.5 billion (USD2.4 billion) last year. The number of listings was  3.5 million, rising 17 percent from 2017, covering nearly 500 Chinese  cities. However, the funding environment cooled as major firms in the  field secured CNY3.3 billion in financing in 2018, 12 percent less than  during the previous year. 

Beijing, Shanghai and  Guangzhou were the top cities for short-term rental, followed by other  first-tier cities or emergent first-tier municipalities. Most of the  landlords were women and their income increased over the year.

Editor: Emmi Laine