Get Flash Player China's fledgling car rental industry will get a boost over the longer-than-usual October holiday because of a new policy lifting highway tolls during major festivals. Car rental firms are seeing their orders pile up ahead of the eight-day Golden Week holiday, with demand outstripping supply in key cities. China Auto Rental Holdings, a car rental service with headquarters in Beijing, started accepting orders for the National Day holiday on Aug1, and more than 60 percent of its 35,000-car fleet had been booked by the end of last week, said company spokesman Zhou Jianfeng. "The traditional peak period is the last week of September, but this year, business has been brisk since the beginning of the month. It's safe to say that the cancelation of highway tolls is the key reason," he said. To ride the rental boom, the company has waived mileage restrictions for users in certain areas, but the minimum number of days to rent a car during the upcoming holiday has been increased to four days, up from the usual one day. The government recently announced that cars with seven seats or less are exempt from highway tolls during four Chinese holidays - Spring Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, May Day and National Day. The country's 236 million licensed drivers will save up to 10 billion yuan ($1.58 billion) in highway fees during one of China's longest-ever Golden Week holidays, which runs from Sept 30 to Oct 7 this year, according to Xinhua News Agency. |