(Yicai Global) Aug. 8 -- The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China promoted the development of car sharing in their Guidelines for Facilitating Healthy Development of Small and Micro Passenger Vehicle Rental, which was published today.

Compared with the draft version, these guidelines added statements such as "foster new energy vehicle sharing" and "encourage car sharing business owners to accept credit in lieu of a deposit."

There are over 6,300 car rental businesses in China, with approximately 200,000 vehicles available for rent. The number of rental vehicles is growing at about 20 percent a year. Compared with countries with well-developed car rental industries, China's market has room to improve in terms of vehicle numbers, concentration, network operation and service capability. Some 92.7 percent of the country's car rental companies have less than 50 automobiles, making benefiting from economies of scale and building broad networks difficult.

The guidelines' scope is limited to small and micro passenger vehicles. They elaborated on anti-terrorism requirements by adding paragraphs on protecting public safety and collecting and submitting relevant information.

Car sharing provides an alternative means of urban transportation and decreases demand for private car ownership, the guidelines said.