当前位置: Language Tips> 新闻播报

Golden Week holiday spurs car-rental frenzy

中国日报网 2012-09-19 11:23

分享到

 

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.

Customers are being drawn to family-sized cars, which accommodate more people, according to Shao Wei, public relations director at Shanghai-based car rental company eHi Auto Services.

The company reported robust sales during the pre-holiday period, with two-thirds of its cars already rented. The company's most popular models are SUVs that seat up to seven people, which cost an average 660 yuan a day plus 40 yuan a day for insurance.

Business clients are increasingly adopting car rental as a cost-saving alternative for high-profile executives and guests.

At Dazhong Car Rental and Leasing, which targets corporate clients, all 4,000 cars have been booked well in advance of the upcoming holiday, said public relations officer Ren Shen.

But prices are surging as people snap up the vehicles. EHi said its prices are on average 30 percent higher than normal, and at China Auto Rental the price on Oct 1 is double the rate of workdays.

Tao Weishuo, 30, who lives in Shanghai, plans to rent a car in Hefei, Anhui province, to visit his fiancee.

A veteran driver, he still decided to take the high-speed train from Shanghai and rent a car next to the local train station.

"The lifting of tolls is beneficial to drivers, but it might spur unprecedented road traffic. The train-plus-car-renting plan is a good combination that saves effort and money at the same time," he said.

QUESTIONS

1 What kind of companies are having an unusually busy season?

2 Why?

3 When is the Golden Week holiday this year?

Answers

1. Car rental companies

2. Longer-than-usual October holiday and a new policy lifting highway tolls during major festivals

3. Sept 30 to Oct 7

相关阅读

Japan, US agree on second missile deal

US, Libya accounts differ on attack that killed ambassador

PLA units hone their battle skills

Firms close on anniversary

(中国日报网英语点津 编辑:Julie)

 

分享到

中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883561联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。

中国日报网双语新闻

扫描左侧二维码

添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我们这儿都有!

中国日报双语手机报

点击左侧图标查看订阅方式

中国首份双语手机报
学英语看资讯一个都不能少!

关注和订阅

本文相关阅读
人气排行
热搜词
 
 
精华栏目
 

阅读

词汇

视听

翻译

口语

合作

 

关于我们 | 联系方式 | 招聘信息

Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版权声明:本网站所刊登的中国日报网英语点津内容,版权属中国日报网所有,未经协议授权,禁止下载使用。 欢迎愿意与本网站合作的单位或个人与我们联系。

电话:8610-84883645

传真:8610-84883500

Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn