From now on China'sunqualified tourist guides will find it difficult to survivebecause of stricter government supervision.

Sources with the China National Tourism Administration said Wednesday in Bo'ao that China will set standards for guide behavior tobring more order to the industry.

From this March, a legal and more transparent payment systemwill be established between tourist guides and travel agencies.Under-the-counter deals and all illegal payments are forbidden. Tourist guides will be graded according to their performances,and will be supervised on a national as well as local level. The number of tourist guides in China is increasing rapidly tokeep pace with the booming tourism industry. According to experts'prediction, China will have 150,000 qualified guides by the endof 2002.

( January 10, 2002)