Huazhu Hotels Group
H World Group Ltd (NASDAQ: HTHT；01179.HK )(simplified Chinese: 华住酒店集团; traditional Chinese: 華住酒店集團; pinyin: Huázhù Jiǔdiàn Jítuán) is a hotel management company in China. In 2021, it was ranked the seven largest hotel group in the world.  As of June 2020, Huazhu Hotels Group operates 6,187 properties in 16 countries. It was previously known as Hanting Inns or China Lodging Group Limited. The company's head office is located in Minhang District, Shanghai.

History
China Lodging was established in 2005. The original company, Powerhill, was established in 2005, and the current Huazhu company was established in 2007.The first hotel of the group opened by Kunshan Railway Station for a trial operation in August 2005.Ji Qi (Chinese: 季琦,; pinyin: Jì Qí), the founder, stated that he got the idea to start the chain by reading a book discussing Accor. In 2012, the company had four brands and about 1,000 properties in China.In March 2010, China Lodging was listed on NASDAQ.In November 2012, the group was renamed to Huazhu Hotels Group.In December 2014, Huazhu Hotels Group signed a long-term strategic alliance agreement with Accor in France, which was finalized in January 2016.In May 2015, former president Jenny Zhang was appointed chief executive officer.In August 2018, the company faced a major data breach, where millions of customer data was leaked and sold on the dark web.
In November 2019, the company announced that one of their subsidiaries purchased Deutsche Hospitality for 700 million euros.

Partnership with Accor
On December 15, 2014, Huazhu signed a long-term strategic alliance agreement with Accor to jointly expand its hotel business in China. According to the agreement, Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis Style and Ibis will be operated by Huazhu in China and Mongolia.
Under franchise agreements, 300 economy and middle-scale hotels have opened in China, mainly under the Ibis, Novotel, and Mercure brands.

Purchase of Deutsche Hospitality
China Lodging Holding Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huazhu Hotels Group, has acquired 100% equity interest in Deutsche Hospitality (DH).
DH's major hotel brands include Steigenberger Hotels & Resort, Maxx by Deutsche Hospitality, IntercityHotel, Jaz in the City, and Zleep Hotels.

Financial results
See also
Hotels portal

References
Ruetz, David and Macy Marvel. "Budget Hotels: Low Cost Concepts in the U.S., Europe and Asia." In: Conrady, Roland and Martin Buck. Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2011 (Volume 0 of Trends and Issues in Global Tourism). Springer Science & Business Media, February 4, 2011. Start p. 99. ISBN 3642177670, 9783642177675.

Notes
External links

Huazhu Hotels Group Ltd (in Chinese) - Site for all hotel brands
China Lodging Group Limited (Investor site, in English)
Hanting Inns (in Chinese)
China Lodging Group, Ltd at Google Finance