China's State Council received complains from foreign nationals from Nigeria, the UK, Pakistan, etc., saying that hotels refused their stay on the grounds of "not having the qualification to accommodate foreigners" or "not knowing how to enter information into the system," particularly in small cities or budget hotels, causing significant inconvenience.
Upon receiving the comments forwarded by the Chinese government website, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Immigration Administration conducted a thorough study and responded as follows:
In response to the reported inconvenience faced by foreigners regarding accommodation, the Ministry of Public Security and the National Immigration Administration have taken the issue seriously. They are actively collaborating with the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and other relevant departments to develop measures. Hotels are required not to refuse foreign guests on the grounds of lacking foreign-related qualifications. They are also being guided and supervised to improve their capability to serve foreigners and enhance the service level of their staff.
Currently, the Ministry of Commerce has guided the China Hotel Association to issue the "Initiative on Facilitating Accommodation Services for Foreigners in China," which aims to promote learning about laws and regulations, improve reception capabilities, and strengthen talent development. This initiative seeks to encourage accommodation businesses to enhance their services for foreigners, thereby providing more convenience for expatriates living in China. Additionally, coordination with online platforms is underway to offer a series of hotel English courses, providing free training in hotel English for registration, room booking, and other services to accommodation providers on these platforms. This helps improve the foreign language skills of the staff, enabling better service for foreign guests.
The Ministry of Public Security is deploying nationwide police departments to further optimize the accommodation registration management services for foreign guests, making it easier for them to register and creating a first-class business environment.
Relevant laws and regulations:
According to Article 39 of the "Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China," "Foreigners staying in hotels in China must register their accommodation in accordance with the relevant regulations on hotel security management and report the accommodation registration information to the local public security authorities."
Article 6 of the "Hotel Security Management Measures" states, "Hotels must register guests when accommodating them.
During registration, the guests' identification documents must be verified, and the registration must be completed truthfully according to the specified items. When accommodating foreign guests, the accommodation registration form must also be submitted to the local public security authorities within 24 hours."
Therefore, both Chinese and foreign guests must follow the legal requirements for accommodation registration, fulfilling their legal obligations. The public security authorities guide hotels to report accommodation registration information for both Chinese and foreign guests in accordance with the regulations.
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