This rating system applies to restaurants, dining halls and caterers to big events, excluding restaurants whose sizes are smaller than 50 square meters, "folk-custom" restaurants in tourist spots, or cafes and teahouses that provide only drinks and snacks like fried chicken wings or kebabs.

Inspectors rate restaurants according to 67 specific criteria, including the health conditions of the waiters and chefs, the kitchen facilities and the qualifications of the food suppliers.

The highest rating of A is only given to restaurants scoring over 85 points on a scale of 100. In July, 2,544 restaurants inspected were rated A, 7.1 percent of the total inspected restaurants in Beijing.

An A rating is imperative for all 20 companies providing catering services for the Olympics and Paralympics, as well as the 112 hotels which signed reception contracts with the Beijing Olympic organizers (BOCOG) and 44 dining halls of 22 hospitals specially set aside for the Games.

An A class dining street has been set up 500 meters to the north of the Olympic Green. All 11 restaurants on this street are A rated and their menus cover many different foods such as Cantonese, Sichuanese plus Japanese and various Western dishes.

A B rating is given to restaurants scoring between 75 and 85 points and C to those scoring between 60 and 75. B and C restaurants together cover more than 90 percent of the total number of restaurants inspected.

Restaurants scoring below 60 will get a D. Once a restaurant gets a D rating, it must improve or it will be shut down. July figures show that nine restaurants in Beijing are of a D class.