Airbnb China head out after four months

The head of Airbnb’s China business has resigned four months after taking the role, the company confirmed on Tuesday. Hong Ge, who previously worked for Google and Facebook, left to pursue another role and the firm is yet to name a successor, said Airbnb in a short statement on Tuesday. Kum Hong Siew, the firm’s current regional director for the Asia Pacific region, will take over the role in an interim capacity. According to Reuters, 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.