Chinese Rental Car
Shanghai native Ray Zhang spent 17 years living abroad before returning to China to launch a rental car firm called eHi Car Service. Car rental firms were still something of a novelty in China when he started his company in 2006, but that has not stopped Mr Zhang from successfully building his business and preparing to take the company public with a New York listing.
He said he is not just focused on making money, but also on doing something good for China. His company will focus on green vehicles and Zipcar or Streetcar-style car sharing. Mr. Zhang believes this is one solution to China's growing environmental, traffic and parking problems. The Chinese authorities agree, as car rental has become central to their strategy of limiting the explosive growth of car ownership. Beijing has even introduced a license plate lottery to reduce traffic, where the opportunity to buy a new car depends of success in applying for a limited number of plates.