You're listening to Roundtable.
I'm Niu Henglin, joined by Steve and Yushan.
For centuries, ownership was a symbol of stability or making it.
A house meant security.
A car meant status.
But for China's younger generation, those symbols are shifting fast.
Why tie yourself down to things that age when you can live through moments that renew?
Today we are taking a look at the rise of the rental lifestyle here in China.
These days, more and more young people in China are discovering that renting can be a smarter, lighter way to live, not just for apartments or bikes.
Things like medical devices that make wellness more accessible or sports cameras cameras that capture a perfect trip without breaking the bank are also happening.
So what's driving this renting boom?
Is it about saving money, chasing new experiences or redefining what ownership really means in the digital age?
To start with, what are the things that young people are renting these days?
Gosh, all that you can think of, right?
Like you, mentioned the very necessary things that people used to own all the time, like a car, like a house.
Nowadays, young people, they perhaps they get married and still live in rented house as a way to save up for the future.
Speaking of which, when you said why tie yourself down to something that gets old, I suddenly felt very sorry for my wife.
When you can keep living anew.
I thought, oh my gosh, I need to let her go so she can live her best life.
That is a completely different topic for life philosophy.
What kind of marriage, you're getting yourself involved, relationship and everything.
But today, not today.
Yeah.
I hope she's not listening.
Oh, she listens every day.
That was for her, but not against her.
Yeah, sharing economy.
It's huge.
And it's not necessarily new.
I was looking up stuff from Western media outlets to see how far back this goes.
And it's years and years and years.
And I found stories from before 2020, even back before that, that talked about even having roommates.
People were looking at having roommates as more of a positive thing, as opposed to tying themselves down with a mortgage or a long-term debt.
Um, because it's short term, you can get out whenever you want to.
Um, you're not tied in for a long-term contract, and that's exactly what we're talking about here today, except we're not necessarily talking about houses all the time.
We're talking about very simple items too, and smaller ones.
Yes, and that's what i was trying to say.
Steve said it's not sharing economy.
It's been a thing here in China for a really long time.
It's just these days we're looking at young people renting unexpected things, because when you think about rent or share economy or renting things, when it's houses or bikes or sometimes even cars, It's life necessity.
But now they are renting the things that they cannot necessarily purchase or cannot make the decision lightly, so that they can enjoy the experience without having the stuff.
Yeah, if you open one of these secondhand apps or rental platforms like Xianyu on China's App Store, then you can find a lot of things from treadmill to computers and even NEVs all for rent.
And this renting phenomenon signals such a mindset where, for some, owning isn't necessary anymore and all you need is just a one-time or few-time access of the object that you think you can try.
So but among all these two categories stand out clearly this year.
And then there is another category that's more curious. which is the sports camera.
Makes a lot of sense.
Yeah, showing just how young people enjoy documenting their life and expressing themselves via social media, here and now.
Yeah.
So, from the health devices side of things the devices that we're talking about there was a report that came out in September of this year.
One of the things that stood out to me rentals of mother and baby medical devices grew by about 130 in just half a year.
And then the whole broader beauty and wellness device category.
That was out of control.
That was 660 plus percent in terms of an increase from last year.
But for the mom and baby devices...
Fetal heart monitors was on the list.
That's something that allows pregnant women to track the baby's heartbeat at home.
Jaundice meters, that can check your newborn's levels for...
Chemical in your body that I can't pronounce.
Billy Rubin?
Yeah, Billy Rubin, I think.
Sounds like a Chinese social media outlet, doesn't it?
Babies' skin turn a bit yellow if they have the problem, and using this specific machine can help them with it.
Oxygen concentrators was on that list, ventilators on that list.
Nebulizers were on that list.
That's a curious one because those are the mist inhalers, right?
I'm not sure how you rent that as opposed to just buy it.
That's for people who...
And also hearing aids and blood oxygen meters.
Those were all on the list of the health care rentals for this year.
Well, they make sense to me because many of the machines can be quite expensive, especially if you are going for the high-end ones with multiple functions. equipment or the things that you're directly contacting yourself with.
For example, we talked about the nebulizers.
It's fine because you're using a um part that you inhale with the mask you're having is brand new.
It's yours.
But the machine itself you can rent, so it's perfectly safe and healthy.
And um, it's a cost-effective decision.
Usually you don't need it for the second time or you can rent it again.
Yeah, and that's the whole thing.
You're only going to use this for, hopefully on the healthcare side, only for a limited period of time.
Then you've got your wellness gadgets.
These are fun.
Hair growth helmets.
Oh, I want one of those.
Those are pretty affordable.
They're only about 2.3 yuan a day.
That's about 32 cents.
And those things claim to prevent hair loss through some light therapy.
Then you've got your LED beauty lamps.
Have you ever used those before?
Yes.
Only in salons.
Not like something I would perceive myself using at home.
Well, if you've got 4.6 yuan burning a hole in your pocket, you can rent one for one day.
Those promote skin brightening or acne reduction.
And then there's eye spa instruments as well.
Those are little tiny heat massage devices that claim to relax tired eyes, and those would be perfect for office workers.
Yeah, I can totally see that these devices has such a booming market.
To attract young people to want to rent them is because people are just curious if these are going to work for them.
So before paying all that huge amount of money and buying each and every one of these items, they just rent it and try it out.
Yeah, the only difficulty I could see there is that for an LED beauty lamp or a hair growth helmet, you're probably going to have to use it for a pretty long time before you see consistent results.
I would think.
I don't know.
I doubt putting a hair growth helmet on your head makes you look like you know you've got A mop.
Yeah, on top of your head after 24 hours.
But you're right.
For people who are unsure about whether they want to make a long-term purchase, then this is an ideal thing to do.
2.3 yuan per day, 4.6 yuan per day.
And for those who are like me myself, I don't know if you remember this, but in Chinese primary school textbooks we have a saying in one of the articles suggesting that you have to rent a book to finish reading the book.
If you have the book, you put it on the shelf and never touch it again.
And that is my mentality as well sometimes.
And for those who are like me, renting one of these machines would give me the motive to use it every day and thinking about my 46 yuan per day and using it.
Yet if I have one, it will go to the shelf and stay there forever.
I don't know how many are like me.
Jeez, so inspiring for me.
Yeah, a lot of the stuff that I say haul and just pile up at home are something that I thought I'm going to use for a lifetime, and then it ended up just using it for one week, let's say.
But I think, beyond that, the bigger reasons of why young people are renting these say, health devices, instead of buying, is more like You have this environment of just recreating the spa services or wellness services just at your home.
It's something that's really popular among young people these days, the wellness culture.
So renting these health devices.
It fits neatly into the broader wellness wave that's sweeping through China's young population younger population these days.
So people are so eager to try to make themselves relax and heal up a little bit after work and just feel good in the evening times by the table, let's say, soaking your feet and having one of those LED lights thing shining um in front of your face while doing a facial mask.
Just imagining that makes me want to take a slow down, breathe and just relax.
It's bringing the spa into your home, it's bringing the hospital into your home and it's seamless, isn't it?
Because the rental platforms like Xiang Yu or other ones make it a kind of I want it.
I decided I wanted it today, I'll order it and I'll get it tomorrow.
I'll use it until I don't want to use it anymore and then I give it back immediately.
Without heavy financial commitment.
Exactly.
And these are all very much relaxing, but there are some other exciting and fun.
And without the option of renting, you might not even consider buying kind of options.
I'm talking about the sport cameras.
Yeah, because this is kind of new, I guess.
So if renting medical devices is about taking care of ourselves, then renting sports camera is totally on another level.
It's about just curating the image and getting the feel of using such a device when not having to own it.
Data from Zhima Zulin, which is one rental platform by Alibaba, indicates that, compared with the summer holiday period in August in 2025, orders for portable cameras such as the DJI Pocket 3 have increased by more than 60, meaning that a lot of people, young people especially are renting these kind of equipment such as dji pocket 3 or gopro or insta 360, these different types of sports cameras, instead of trying to buy one and own one, And they're doing it in a very smart way.
Some of them would even make the order and have the sports camera delivered directly to the hotel that they stay for the trip.
And then they return it from the city.
They finish traveling and they have all the footage and everything and no extra cost needed.
Yeah and, by the way, the one that you mentioned, the DJI Pocket 3.
I didn't know what that was, so I did a quick internet search.
There was a foreign media outlet that named it its camera of the year, its sports camera of the year.
Yeah, because these types of things, and also the GoPro and the Insta360 and others, I'm sure they're so fantastic for your vacation because they're portable, they're easy to attach to things like a helmet if you're going snowboarding or your vest if you're going for a long walk, things like that.
You don't even have to hold them in your hand.
And the video quality is just getting better and better.
And if you're a person who travels, maybe once or twice a year, and you want to bring back some really special, high-quality memories with you, then this is a perfect way to do it.
So I'm not surprised that this is near the top of the list for rentals for young people.
And another item or category that got me a little bit surprised is cell phones.
Young people are renting cell phones.
This is a bit surprising because I think cell phones are quite private and you use it to store a lot of your data and stuff and renting it sounds like a not very secure option.
Well, you're renting it for the same reason that you're renting the GoPro or the Pocket 3, because you're not renting it.
So you can call your mom and say that you arrived safely.
How do you know I do that?
You're renting it because of their camera and video qualities.
Right.
Think about, okay, so I've got an iPhone.
Actually, I don't even know what this is.
I think it's like a 13.
12 or 13.
But let's say I was kind of unhappy with the camera quality and I'm going on this really cool vacation to a place that's very picturesque.
Do I want to buy the latest iPhone model?
Well, maybe I don't have thousands of dollars to do so, but I really want to make use of that camera.
So what do I do?
I rent the latest version.
Take it with me on vacation, make use of its camera and video quality and bring it back, and give it back at a very affordable cost.
Saving the money and the space for bringing an extra compound camera, let's say.
That sounds quite interesting and at the same time, We are looking at a lot of young people renting a lot of different new equipment and gadgets and enjoying the shared economy.
Are there any potential risks or problems?
For example for me, if I'm using the cell phone, for example, only as a camera for its use, great quality in taking pictures and footages, sure.
But for that short period of time, because we know it's quite cost effective.
If you compare the price of renting one.
For instance, here on one of the platforms, renting one A camera is only 20 yuan a day, and also renting a cell phone is not that expensive.
And in that case, when I'm using one of the rented cell phone for, for example, half a year, I still have to worry about the privacy and data safety issue.
What if my picture gets uploaded to somebody else's cloud?
Yeah.
If you don't erase it before you give it back, then you're putting that at risk for sure.
Also, hygiene, I would think.
Those LED face mask things.
Whose face did that touch before mine?
Those mother and child equipments.
Are you totally feeling safe that if some other family has used it before you did?
I rented one.
Yes, yes.
I think around two years ago, I rented one.
It's because, I said, the machines are rented but you have to buy all the other parts that are actually touching your skin and touching the baby.
Yes, so it's...
Well, see, you have to make a smart decision to tackle with those potential problems.
Also we kind of expect that these platforms and apps, they really can have such reliability and also carry out the responsibility, just in case any risks happen, like how the say the, Maybe the deposit issue happens.
See when people accidentally damage, say, the frame of the camera or anything.
Easy to do.
Yeah.
I'm not saying that everybody should or will do it.
It's just when accidents happen, what are the terms that you offer for people to repay?
Yeah, no, exactly.
And then what about the condition of the thing that you're renting in the first place?
You want to make sure that's top quality before you give them your money too.
And with all that possible challenges and problems, I do not think it is an industry or a kind of lifestyle that we're saying no to, because those problems can be solved if we're careful enough, if we make the terms in advance enough, make sure of the articles that we're signing, and then we'll get to enjoy this kind of lifestyle.
That opens a lot of different doors and possibilities to you, and that is also quite interesting because I think it reflects these days, young consumers, That is, instead of owning something to show so-called my status, they are focusing more on the experience, on what they are really enjoying.
And they are not cheap in the sense that they do not want the things.
They just want to make sure they're making the smartest decisions.
And that is quite cool and mature.
I think it's just a difference in wants and desires.
Article the video that I was referencing before about the person who was living in a shared space, shared kitchen, shared bathroom.
This is a story from America from 2019.
He owned his own company.
And it wasn't because he couldn't afford it.
And this is applicable to people who... who can't afford things as well, but he could.
It's just it was a decision.
He didn't want to be tied to anything.
One of the points of the story was he gave away his backpack because he felt it was somehow tying him down.
So the concept of a need for ownership of almost anything seems to be disappearing with young people.
The concept of I have to own a house, it proves I'm successful.
I have to own a car because it proves I've achieved a certain level of success in my life.
Those concepts are disappearing.
Why own it if you're not going to use it that often?
If you're only going to have it for a short period of time, because that's all you need it for, then why buy it in the first place?
Or if there are other ways, say more flexible ways, for me to still get what I want, to try but in the meantime saves up money, or rather gives me a better control of my money and the lifestyle that I choose, then why not?
I want to ask you this, Yuzhen.
After today's discussion, is there one thing, one item or a specific category that interests you, that makes you want to see?
Ah, maybe I can rent this for a while and have a try and see whether or not I like it.
Is there any of such items, such example?
LED beauty lamps.
Again.
I've only tried that in spas before, but if I can get it every single evening, that sounds like a pretty good idea to remove some acnes off my face.
So, for those of you who are listening, if there's one thing that you've tried, you've rented and you enjoyed, please leave a comment.
Let us know whether or not you are a fan of the shared economy as well.
