China to rate Internet cafes for better service

BEIJING - Chinese authorities are planning to introduce a rating system to its 140,000 Internet cafes in a bid to improve service.

The cafes will be rated on sanitation, percentage of oxygen in the air and handling of garbage, according to a statement by the Internet Access Service Association on Thursday.

Only licensed cafes that have no marks on their records will be eligible for the rating system.

The Ministry of Culture, which is working with the association, said checks will be carried out according to the rating results.

The association said that some 117 million people accessed the Internet at cafes in 2014. The sector recorded earnings of 57 billion yuan (about $9.2 billion) in 2014, an increase of 9.6 percent year on year, ending four years of consecutive drops.