It's the front end of an extensive security network that has many purposes, not all of which might be popular with travelers. On the one hand, the emphasis on security helps make upper-level Chinese hotels among the safest in the world. Petty theft, the most common hotel crime, is very uncommon. But there are other uses for the network, too. For instance, in late May the Propaganda Ministry decided to ban CNN from hotel rooms for a short time, around the 10th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Many countries require similar data be sent to the police.
But China is nearly alone in requiring hotels to report visa numbers and to submit the forms so quickly. Elsewhere, hotels might just send along carbon copies every few days. The inclusion of visa numbers is significant. In China, different types of visas are distinguished by the handwritten numbers at the top of the passport page. By monitoring visa numbers as they move down the data line, Chinese police can track the movements of diplomats and journalists, the two professions deemed most sensitive by Chinese security forces.