Revenue of China's catering industry in 2017 is expected to reach 3.9 trillion RMB ($607 billion), according to a report by China's Cuisine Association (CCA) on the country's food consumption.
The revenue stood at 3.23 and 3.58 trillion RMB in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The continuous rise of the figure indicates the industry's growing impact on the general consumption market.
CCA President Jiang Junxian noted that the growth of China's catering industry has been maintained within a reasonable range, predicting revenue of over 5 trillion RMB in 2020.
According to the report, dining environment was selected by 19.2% of the consumers as the most important factor that influenced their choices of restaurants. A total of 17.8% of them considered taste as the most important.
Chinese cuisines took 57% of the catering market, possessing a dominant position. The figure was 55% in mega cities and 63% in small- and medium-sized ones.
A total of 92% of the people born between 1970 and 1979 marked Chinese food as their priority, while the proportion was only 19% among those born in the 1990s.
Hotpot was the most favored food of Chinese consumers in 2017, for which food safety, price, and environment were all criteria for their choices, especially those born between 1980 and 1989.
In addition to the dominant Chinese cuisines, snacks were another major contributor to catering industry growth in 2017, accounting for 16% of the sector. The proportion was even 18% in major cities.
CCA statistics indicate that salty taste was the most popular among Chinese consumers in 2017, favored by 23.3% of them. Spicy food ranked second, with a percentage of 17.2%.
