This combo photo shows a girl holds a yellow umbrella with the mark of for share. (Photo/huanqiu.com）
(ECNS) -- As the shared economy booms in China, shared umbrellas began to appear in Shanghai earlier this week, but they disappeared quickly, Shanghai Morning Post reported on Saturday.
An online post said on May 23 that umbrellas available for public use had been spotted on sidewalk railings near Lujiazui in the Pudong New Area.
Users were able to rent umbrellas for one yuan per day after scanning a QR code to install an app, completing a registration process and paying a deposit of 20 yuan, according to the report.
But on May 25, netizens said all the umbrellas had vanished in less than a day.
Some of the umbrellas were believed to have been removed by city administrators, the paper reported. However, a company executive said it received no notice about the shared umbrellas being banned, and would communicate with law enforcement authorities further on the matter, it added.
Few citizens had taken the opportunity to rent the umbrellas. "As the weather was so good, there was no need to rent an umbrella," said an employee surnamed Wang. "Maybe when it's rainy, they'll be useful."
The company said many of its umbrellas went missing due to a lack of GPS devices in them.
At least two other companies said they would debut in Shanghai in early June and place shared umbrellas in areas with large crowds, the paper said.
