Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT

Online home-rental marketplace Airbnb announced last week that it would partner with China Broadband Capital and Sequoia China to expand into the Chinese market.

The news was not exactly a surprise, since Airbnb has become ubiquitous in the online accommodation booking market. Its choice of partners also met with approval.

Sequoia China is the local version of Sequoia Capital, a well-established investment fund that first backed Airbnb in the US in 2010, when the company raised $7.2 million in Series A funding from Sequoia and Greylock partners. Alongside this, China Broadband will essentially help customize Airbnb's offering and localize its presence.

The rest may seem logical. With assistance from experienced tech-focused investment funds such as these, Airbnb would seem to have strong prospects in China. However, it is facing serious competition.

While it may seem paltry next to Airbnb's valuation of nearly $25 billion, Xiaozhu raised $60 million in July to bring its own valuation to over $300 million. This will help its expansion potential as it seeks to improve on its current listings of 30,000 properties in 200 cities.

This actually pales in comparison to Tujia, another Chinese Airbnb rival, that can boast a valuation in excess of $1 billion, after a bumper investment round in early August. Furthermore, Tujia is backed by All Stars Investment, a Hong Kong-based fund that has contributed to the rise of Xiaomi and Uber rival Didi Kuaidi. Therefore, the presence of these competitors could spell doom for a Western Internet leader, trying to impose its dominance on a market that has traditionally favored local options.

Nevertheless, despite such strong rivals, Airbnb has a significant business advantage that the likes of Uber and Amazon do not have in China. While these two can deploy significant financial resources and strong reputations, attacking a market like China requires the setup of a new platform, tailored marketing, and a wholly new product selection.

While Airbnb must take care in some of these areas, particularly marketing, each market it opens can count on being able to access its worldwide catalogue of properties.

Furthermore, to call Xiaozhu and Tujia rivals may not be true in every aspect. Certainly, to gain a catalogue of properties across China matching the depth of Xiaozhu may take a while for Airbnb.

However, few foreigners looking to holiday in China will be searching for flats in North China's Baotou or Shijiazhuang. They will focus on well-known hotspots where Airbnb's reputation will make it a powerful force.

Another advantage may play into Airbnb's hands. It may not need legions of Chinese tourists looking to travel domestically to view it as the platform of choice. Instead, it is looking to tap into the $164 billion market for Chinese overseas travel. According to an Airbnb post on its website, "In just the past year alone, outbound travel from Chinese guests through Airbnb has grown 700 percent, making it our fastest-growing outbound market. By this time next year, we believe we can help more people in China travel through the Airbnb platform for the first time, connecting them to incredible hosts and leaving them with memorable travel experiences from around the world."

This makes Airbnb's task a whole lot easier. Discerning Chinese tourists already know they are on to a good thing and are using Airbnb without much extra work on its part. From there, a dedicated platform and targeted marketing will go a long way.

Furthermore, Airbnb has a final ace up its sleeve that Xiaozhu and Tujia can only dream of. Tujia may be focused on luxury apartments, but Airbnb's millions of clients mean that its user base can cater to any niche they want. In the wake of hotels and travel companies, it would be surprising if a significant section of property owners on Airbnb did not seek to stand out in the eyes of Chinese travelers.

The author is a Mexico-based analyst of Chinese politics and economics. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn