Airbnb's China head exits after only four months

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China's Airbnb Inc. confirmed on Tuesday that the head of business has resigned four months after taking the role, making it the latest leadership change for the unit.

Hong Ge, who previously worked for Google Inc. and Facebook Inc., left to pursue another role and the firm is yet to name a successor, said Airbnb in a short statement on Tuesday.

Reuters was unable to reach Ge for comment on Tuesday morning.

Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky speaks at an event to launch the brand's Chinese name, in Shanghai, China, March 22, 2017. /VCG Photo

Kum Hong Siew, the current president of China operations will take over the role in an interim capacity.

Airbnb faces tough regulatory challenges in China, where movement between cities is closely monitored and people are required to register temporary stays with local police.

Last week, the company announced that co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk would become chairman of Airbnb’s China arm, which goes under the name of ‘Aibiying’ and competes against local services Tujia.com and Xiaozhu.com.

Airbnb in that announcement also said it has plans to double the number staff in China over the next year and introduce new quality standards.

Airbnb, which has roughly 120,000 listings in China, has also had to comply with a national cyber law introduced in 2016 that requires private user data to be stored locally.

Source(s): Reuters