Is the sharing economy overvalued?

With the sharing economy becoming a trend across the world, its development in China is both promising and controversial. The sharing economy first made its mark in China in 2011; today it has entered what many consider its golden development period. Regarding the sharing economy as one of the core directions of new economy, this year's Government Work Report vowed to help its development.

The sharing economy has penetrated into 10 major domestic sectors and more than 30 sub-sectors, including transportation, second-hand online transactions as well as peer-to-peer (or P2P) lending. In fact, in just a few years, sharing-economy companies worth $1 billion or more have emerged in China.

But the sharing economy also faces challenges. For instance, once sharing-economy businesses become full-time vocations, will they deviate from their original goal of sharing and effectively using idle social resources?