Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Chinese diners spend 800 billion yuan annually
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-25 08:53

Chinese people annually spend 800 billion yuan (US$98.6 billion) at resturants, or 900 times the cost of China's second manned space mission that was accomplished in mid October, according to sources at a national chef's festival held in Wuhan recently.

Along with rapid economic growth and the improvement of living standards, eating out has become common in recent years on the Chinese mainland, boosting the development of China's catering sector.

Last year, the sector's retail sales exceeded the 700-billion-yuan (US$86.3 billion) level for the first time to reach 748.6 billion yuan (US$92.3 billion), a year-on-year increase of 133 billion yuan (US$16.4 billion), or 21.56 percent.

In the first eight months, retail sales rose to 81.08 billion yuan (US$9.9 billion), or 17.6 percent, over the year-earlier level, to 541.7 billion yuan (US$66.8 billion).

If the sector maintains its pep, the figure will likely reach 880.35 billion yuan (US$108.6 billion) at the end of this year, top one trillion yuan (US$123.3 billion) in 2006 and even double to two trillion yuan (US$246.6 billion) in five years, the sources predicted.

Last year China's catering sector had more than four million resturants and other outlets, 34 times the 1978 level, and a workforce of 18 million people, 16 times the level 27 years ago.



Maggie calls for breast protection
New 'Harry Potter' movie may scare kids
Carina Lau hints at marriage
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

Bird flu: Beijing demands rapid response

 

   
 

President Hu to visit North Korea this week

 

   
 

Foreigners busted in illegal forex dealings

 

   
 

Law aims to keep unsafe food off the table

 

   
 

Journalists' hotel in Baghdad attacked

 

   
 

China to blacklist, penalize polluting cities

 

   
  Chinese diners spend 800 billion yuan annually
   
  Nujiang dam project tests environmental policy
   
  'Dream come true' with director Zhang Yimou
   
  1/4 Chinese women dissatisfied with sex
   
  Scholars need money, time to get Nobel Prize
   
  Property bubble limited to some cities: official
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Feature  
  Could China's richest be the tax cheaters?  
Advertisement