Catering sales expects final burst at year-end

The Chinese catering industry expects an 80 billion yuan (9.7 billion US dollars) in sales this month, the highest this year, thanks to Christmas and New Year's Eve.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Chinese catering sales hit 668 billion yuan in the first 11 months, up 21.9 percent year on year and accounted for nearly 14 percent of the country's total retail sales in the same period.

The ministry predicted earlier that the annual catering sales will hit 730 billion yuan, 10 billion more than the prediction made in the middle of this year. Chinese catering sales stood at 606.6 billion yuan in 2003.

Source: Xinhua