Operators of Chinese-style bed-and-breakfasts have been running at heavy losses for the past two months since the novel coronavirus outbreak. But they're expecting a revival after the epidemic.

Home-share listings' trade size in China was around 16.5 billion yuan ($2.38 billion) in 2018, a 37.5 percent increase over 2017, the State Information Center reported last year. In 2018, there were about 3.5 million listings in over 500 Chinese cities, and about 70 percent of hosts were born in the 1980s and '90s.

Full-time Airbnb host Li Hao has 30 listings of small-scale apartments in downtown Shanghai, many of which are in the same housing estate.

It's not uncommon for hosts to rent houses and renovate them into stylish listings. Li has to pay homeowners about 150,000 yuan per month in rent. Some have waived his rent for one or two months. Like other hosts, he has no guests due to the epidemic.

"Some hosts withdraw from the market by terminating their lease contracts with homeowners, and some transfer their lodgings to other hosts who have funds. A host can reduce the number of listings after selection," he says.

He says short-term rentals aren't allowed in cities during the epidemic.