The work for the assessment of star-scaled hotels is now on the right track, hoping that the number of star-scaled hotels will approach 10,000 by the yearend.

With the boom of tourism industry in recent years, hotel industry as a new detachment of the industry in China has suddenly stood out the biggest part in its tourism development. The guestroom number saw an increase rate of 56.2 percent from 1996 to 1998.

With the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), China took the initiative to launch the assessment of hotels by star-scaled standard on August 22, 1988 and 1989 saw 22 hotels in trial operation in Guangzhou against the standard as set by the National Tourism Administration of China (CNTA).

In 1993, this standard was authorized by the State Bureau of Technology Supervision as the national standard, the first one in China's tourism industry. As announced, CNTA will make more effort to bring the number of assessed hotels to 10,000 in two years' time.

(People’s Daily 02/27/2001)