Moondog is correct. DN, if you had applied at a Chinese mission in the USA, you would almost certainly have gotten the 12 month multiple entry. This deal is not normally available if you are a US citizen applying for a visa in a 3rd country. The older policy of not granting a multiple until you had at least one (or 2 or 3) entries into China on singles and doubles doesn't seem to apply anymore, at least to US citizens.