Homeinns is trimming its development pipeline in the face of ongoing macroeconomic weakness in China, executives said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

Homeinns Hotel Group will ease on the development throttle during 2015 as the Chinese economy softens, executives said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday morning in China.

The company has plans to open at least 400 hotels during the year, CFO Cathy Li said. An analyst pointed out that figure is less than what other Chinese hotel companies are planning. For instance, China Lodging Group is planning to open at least 680 to 730 hotels in 2015.

CEO David Sun responded by saying Homeinns officials are mindful of the macro picture in China as it relates to development efforts and are taking a different strategy than others.

“If you look at the current market situation in China, we’re not seeing the significant improvement in the market in the near term,” he said. “We are quite prudent, very cautious with our development plans in 2015.” January and February 2015 also have been slow months for the company performance-wise, he said.

Just a day earlier, officials at fellow Chinese hotel company China Lodging expressed similar concerns about the country’s economy.

Chief Strategy Officer May Wu said the economic weakness is likely a short-term blip on the radar. An analyst mentioned that if executives thought the slowdown was only going to be one or two years, then the company’s pipeline should not be affected.

“I (didn’t) say one year. I said during the near term … the challenging market will continue,” Sun told the analyst, adding he is optimistic about China’s long-term economic prospects.

The company reported its occupancy rate dipped 5.2% to 79.6%; average daily rate was unchanged at 163 renminbi ($26.01); and revenue per available room decreased 5.1% to 130 renminbi ($20.75).

Homeinns’ stock price closed Wednesday at $22.37 per share and was down 25.5% year to date. By comparison, the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index is down 0.5% during the same period.

Business travel is likely to feel the biggest sting from the slowdown, Wu said.

“We are planning for a year where we will see flat to slightly down business travel volume in our market,” she said. Further, Sun said group occupancy was down 4.4% during the quarter.

The Global Business Travel Association downgraded its outlook for business travel in the country because of the slower economic growth combined with a growing sense of unease in the global economy overall. GBTA now is projecting business travel spend in China will increase 14.2% during 2015, down from its previous forecast of 18%.

Sun said first-tier cities are likely to hold up better than secondary and tertiary markets. He said the area around the Yangtze River Delta is likely to perform better than markets in northeastern China. He also said midscale hotel product is performing better than economy hotels.

Of the hotels Homeinns plans on opening during 2015, 30% will be in the midscale segment, Li said. As of 31 December 2014, the company operated a total of 2,609 hotels across China and has 401 projects in its development pipeline. Roughly half of the hotels in the pipeline are under contract or construction with the remainder in the due diligence stage, Sun said.

Homeinns added a net 113 hotels to its portfolio during the quarter.

Despite the cloudy near-term future for China’s economy, Sun expressed optimism.

“We believe we are well-positioned to navigate the market in 2015 and leverage opportunities,” he said.