Smartphone apps can be used to rent bikes, taxi rides, homes, and now, mini-gymnasiums

With a bunch of smartphone-based apps enabling people to rent a wide range of items, China is embracing a new age of business and convenience.

Buoyed by successful startups such as bike-sharing giant Ofo Inc and ride-hailing titan Didi Chuxing, the tide of the sharing economy is sweeping across China, helping transform the country into a global innovation leader, expanding business far more rapidly than its foreign counterparts.