Catering sales fall as appetites dim

Catering sales in the capital fell by 5.6 percent in the first five months of the year on an annual basis, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce said on Friday.

But the commission did not reveal exact sales figures for restaurants.

The catering industry has been hit by the government crackdown on wasting public money on luxury banquets.

According to the China Cuisine Association, sales in the first four months of this year for the catering industry reached 771.2 billion yuan ($124.5 billion), a year-on-year growth of 8.3 percent.

This represents a plunge of 37.6 percent from the same period last year.