Based on the State Information Center (SIC)'s definition for a sharing economy, payment for knowledge can be regarded as a process of turning knowledge into commercial products or services. To be specific, people can share their knowledge with others via Internet platforms, meanwhile bringing themselves extra income. These platforms, at the same time, earn their profits on that.
The year 2016 marked the beginning of knowledge payment in China. An investigation jointly conducted by Guokr and Netease's online platforms shows that 70% of users have paid for online learning; while in 2015, the number was only 26%.
In May, 2016, Zhihu, a Chinese question-and-answer website, launched Zhihu Live (payment sharing). Within three days, these new platforms attracted over one million users. In June, Luo Zhenyu, founder of LUOgic Show, launched Li Xiang's Commercial References on iget(得到网)，and within two days over four million users subscribed; in August, Z/"7m's approval & tip function, Snowball O&A, Lenovo's Zhiliao Q&A came online; in September, Huxiu (虎嗅网)began to provide in-depth reports to VIP payment members. Other paid knowledge platforms such as Ximalaya FM, Douban，have also been developing their knowledge payment services.
People with a wealth of knowledge and experience in specific areas are the most likely to benefit from payment for knowledge. Senior managers in large multinational companies like Google, financial elites with top university backgrounds and well-known psychologists, can all profit from these online platforms. But the opportunities also favor the ordinary: a body-builder, a girl who traveled around the world, or a student that passed a postgraduate entry exam can all set up a live classroom. One hundred minutes of audio sharing cost ¥ 19.9 or $2.9, and thousands of users might pay and join the course, bringing those with specific knowledge remarkable income.
In the 2017 China's Sharing Economy Development Report provided by the SIC，the turnover in China's knowledge market measures about Y61 billion, or $9 billion，which is a 205% growth compared to last year; the number of payment for knowledge users reached 300 million, accounting for half of all Chinese Internet Users.
The investigation shows that, males are the majority of the users, accounting for nearly 60%: 25-35 year olds account for 59.3%, which mirrors the majority of Internet users, 63% of the paying users are college graduates, and 53.9% of the paying users have an income of Y3-8k,or $ 441-1176, and most are employees and junior management.
