In China, where a “zero-Covid” policy has resulted in continual lockdowns, Airbnb is shutting down its domestic rentals.

According to a person acquainted with the situation, all listings for houses and experiences in the nation will be withdrawn from the company’s website by the summer.

Over the previous several years, Chinese stays accounted for barely 1% of Airbnb’s earnings.

Instead, the firm is anticipated to focus on Chinese citizens traveling to other countries.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Chinese tourists traveling overseas had quadrupled in less than a decade, reaching 155 million trips in 2019.

However, since 2020, China has imposed some of the world’s strictest Covid regulations, making travel into and out of the nation exceedingly difficult.

Airbnb began operations in China in 2016. Since then, the internet house rental firm has hosted more than 25 million visitors.

However, a person acquainted with the company’s decision stated that even before the epidemic, the domestic rental business for visitors to China was hard and expensive to manage.

For example, in accordance with local rules and regulations, visitor information was transmitted to the Chinese government, and the firm has faced stiff competition from native Chinese home-rental platforms.

In 2017, it rebranded its Chinese business Aibiying, which means “to greet each other with affection,” to make it simpler to say for Mandarin people.