China's Ministry of Commerce has published an industry standard for star grade hotel professionals and the new standard will be implemented from July 1, 2007.

The new standard, which is called Qualification and Condition for Star Grade Hotel Professionals, is believed to set a threshold for people to enter the hospitality industry, although its specific content has not yet been released.

Apart from Qualification and Condition for Star Grade Hotel Professionals, another travel related standard called Family-fun Operation and Service Criteria will also be enacted on July 1 this year. Analysts quoted in local media believe that the implementation of these two standards will play a substantial role to the regulation of the hospitality industry and it will help wash out a batch of unqualified hospitality enterprises and hospitality training firms.

The qualifications of staff at star grade hotels has gone down dramatically in recent decades. With the increase of star grade hotels before the 2008 Olympics, more and more people will join this industry and it is therefore very necessary to issue this standard to regulate their qualifications.