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The vacation rental company Airbnb Inc. announced the closure of its operations in China as of 30 of July, in the midst of the confinement that exists in various parts of the country by Covid-05.
The San Francisco-based company announced this measure on its WeChat account without giving further details.
“We have made the difficult decision to refocus our efforts in China on overseas travel and suspend our China host homes and experiences, from 30 July 2022”, said Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk.
According to Global Times, which quotes a source close to the company, the decision would have been made because the operation is expensive in that country, and commercial activity has been complicated by the pandemic.
For its part , The New York Times said the company would withdraw 150,000 ads in China, of the six million it has on the planet. Revenues from China represent 1% of the company’s business, according to estimates.
“Airbnb will refocus its efforts in China to focus on the travel business outgoing and suspending their domestic homes and experiences this summer,” a source told CNN.
In addition to Airbnb, Other companies have exited the Chinese market in recent months such as LinkedIn and Yahoo. Meanwhile, other platforms such as Google, Alphabet Inc. and Meta Plattforms Inc. have stopped providing their services to end users, justifying operational issues and censorship.
Currently China has taken strict measures in the face of the resurgence of Covid 19 in various regions of the country. Shanghai, the largest city, with 25 million inhabitants, has been one of the most affected by the constant closures of companies and important industrial centers.
These decisions have also harmed the world economy. Sectors such as electronics, automobiles and technology have been the hardest hit. Export growth slowed in April on weakening global demand.
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