Total Retail Sales of China’s Catering Industry up 24.8% in the First 3 Quarters in 2008

According to relevant statistics, in the first three quarters, China’s accommodation and catering market maintained a high growth rate and achieved the total retail sales of 11.0552 trillion yuan, up 24.8％ year on year, or 6.7 percentage points faster than that of the same period of last year, accounting for 14.2％ of the total retail sales of social consumption goods of the same period, driving the total retail sales volume of social consumption goods up by 3.4 percentage points. Among which, the total retail sales in the first quarter reached 368.73 billion yuan, up 23.6％ year on year, or 6.2 percentage points faster than that of the same period of the previous year; the second quarter, 351.96 billion yuan, up 24.4％ year on year, or 6.1 percentage points faster than that of the same period of the previous year; the third quarter, 384.81 billion yuan, up 26.3％ year on year, or 7.5 percentage points faster than that of the same period of the previous year. the newly established foreign-funded enterprises in the first three quarters were 506, down by 25.9％ year on year; the foreign capital in actual use was USD720 million, down by 4.5% year on year. Among which the catering industry’s foreign capital in actual use was USD300 million, up by 14.4% year on year.

According to the operation rules of the catering market, it is expected that the catering market shall continue to maintain the momentum of rapid growth in the fourth quarter and the retail sales of the accommodation and catering industry in the whole year shall reach 1,539 billion yuan, up 24.6％; the whole country’s per capita food consumption shall reach 1,158 yuan, up 23.9% year on year.