The National Tourism Administration has confirmed plans to incorporate a new top rating of 'Five Platinum Stars' into its hotel classification system as of July 1st. 

The National Tourism Administration has confirmed plans to incorporate a new top rating of 'Five Platinum Stars' into its hotel classification system as of July 1st.

This new rating will no doubt become a major goal for ambitious hoteliers, but they should note that they will have to fulfil seven strict requirements in order to qualify for this new rating.

The tourism office in Beijing said that 28 of the present 30 five-star hotels in the city meet at least one of the requirements, which states that a hotel should have been operating for at least two years.

This means that luxury hotels coming into China from abroad, such as the J. W. Marriott Hotel, will first need to apply for standard five-star status before waiting a further two years to apply for their five platinum stars. 

(CRI.com June 23, 2004)