China's Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and other government departments expect 10,000 environmentally friendly hotels by 2010 as part of effort to improve ecological awareness in the hospitality industry.
A nationwide standard on "green hotels" would be drafted and enacted soon.
The China Hotels Association drafted and put into effect an industry standard of green hotels three years ago. According to the standard, green hotels should not only provide safe rooms and healthy food, but also conserve energy and be environmentally friendly.
There are currently more than 300 hotels that have come under the classification.
The new standards will be tougher than those of the China Hotels Association.
Many existing green hotels have themselves called for improvements in current energy-saving technologies and facilities.
Statistics with the China Hotels Association show that there are more than 200,000 hotels on the Chinese mainland.
