CNBC reported on May 23 that two sources revealed that Airbnb will completely take down nearly 150,000 listings and experience businesses in China, leaving only the outbound business; it is expected to be completed this summer. Airbnb’s official website issued an open letter on the 24th – Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk said that he had made a difficult decision: With the cause of the CCP virus epidemic, Airbnb’s business in China will be adjusted to focus Outbound travel business. Effective July 30, 2022, Airbnb will suspend support for domestic travel listings, experiences and related reservations in China. The news of “Airbnb’s withdrawal from mainland China” made a hot search on Weibo on the 24th. In this regard, some netizens have expressed, “It’s really a pity”, “There is a problem with the company’s strategy”, and “tears of the times”. Some netizens said that Airbnb is the most comfortable accommodation software he has ever used.
Airbnb officially launched its business in mainland China in 2016 and has been facing fierce competition from its domestic counterparts. It is reported that the operating cost of the online booking business is already high and the environment is very complex. However, as the epidemic continues to recur, the company’s domestic travel business has higher operating costs.
According to foreign media reports, in 2020, Airbnb will be listed on the Nasdaq, becoming the largest technology “unicorn” company. In fact, rents in China only account for 1% of Airbnb’s revenue. Due to the great impact of the CCP virus epidemic, in May 2020, Airbnb announced that it would lay off 1,800 people worldwide. And now the CCP directly restricts population mobility because of the zero-clearing policy. Some netizens said, who can stand the endless lockdown. The future investment environment will not develop in a good direction.
The withdrawal of Airbnb also reflects the difficulties foreign companies are facing under the CCP epidemic. The Financial Times recently reported that Hong Kong bond data showed that foreign investors sold more than $16 billion worth of Chinese bonds in April, bringing net outflows from yuan bonds to a record $35 billion in the first four months of this year. One month after the closure of Shanghai, many Fortune 500 companies are considering whether to take immediate action to move out of China.
Just after the news from the foreign media, the CCP’s official media recently urgently retorted that the authorities helped enterprises to solve problems such as resumption of work and production, and “stabilized the fundamentals of foreign investment.” Experts said that the CCP’s “hedging” propaganda to the domestic people is aimed at stabilizing domestic anxiety, because the withdrawal of foreign companies will undoubtedly have a huge impact on domestic companies and employment.
In addition, Chinese state media reported on the 23rd that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chaired an executive meeting of the State Council, at which he rarely admitted that the economy was “off the rails” and that “many market players are very difficult.” He also demanded to “work hard to bring the economy back to a normal track” and urgently introduced 33 measures to stabilize the economy in 6 areas at the meeting.
In the official media reports, policies such as fiscal policy, financial policy, industrial chain supply chain policy, consumption promotion and effective investment are involved. Some observers take note.
“Faguang” has previously stated that Xi Jinping’s insistence on “dynamic clearing” has led to a rare recession in the Chinese economy, especially in Shanghai, which has been closed for more than a month. Compared with the same period last year, in April, the avalanche declined by 61.5%. China’s economic data for April fell sharply across the board, a figure that left Chinese officials “horrified”. “Voice of America” economic commentator Jin Shan said, “The CCP has increased its weight in epidemic prevention, but it has constantly compromised on people’s livelihood policies. Now it is necessary to quickly put the brakes on prevention and control, because excessive prevention and control directly crippled China’s economy. Economy. Once it is crippled, it may take ten years to repair it. Just like Shanghai was directly crippled this year.”