Customers dine at a vegetarian restaurant in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

China's catering industry has been seeing a recovery since COVID-19 came under control in the country, with most restaurants recovering operations to half of levels seen before the outbreak, according to an industry observer. 

Fast food chain Home Original Chicken told the Global Times on Tuesday that the customer volumes at its stores across China have already recovered to levels from before the COVID-19 outbreak.

So far, more than 700 restaurants under Chinese hotpot chain Haidilao have resumed operations, and the chain's overall state of operations has improved month by month, the company told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

"We will actively promote our delivery service, explore retail products and online sales channels, and continue to optimize our operation costs," Haidilao said. 

China's catering industry has been accelerating its recovery pace since May, and the operations of popular restaurants across the country have recovered to 70-80 percent of levels seen before the outbreak, Qin Chao, CEO of professional catering media China Restaurants Insider, told the Global Times on Tuesday, adding that small and medium-sized restaurants have recovered to 40-50 percent or previous levels. 

Online catering revenues of accommodation and catering companies above a designated scale grew more than 20 percent year-on-year in May due to popular delivery services, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. 

"Chinese restaurant brands which have strong supply chain and retail capabilities both online and offline are performing better than small and medium-sized restaurants which had operational problems and low profit rates," Qin said, adding that the Matthew Effect - the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer - is evident in the catering industry. 

However, he also warned the COVID-19 epidemic has had a huge influence on Chinese consumer confidence in the catering industry. Even though China has contained COVID-19, the risk of people traveling to China carrying the virus remains.

Chinese hotpot chain Haidilao said on Tuesday that its revenue for the first half of the year may drop 20 percent year-on-year due to the COVID-19 epidemic, though China's catering sector has seen positive signs of recovery.

The catering giant made 911 million yuan ($129.84 million) in profits attributable to company shareholders in the first six months of 2019, and it has warned that there will be a significant drop in that figure over the same period this year. 

The COVID-19 outbreak and the relevant prevention and control measures and restrictions for catering establishments have had a significant impact on the company's business since January, according to Haidilao. 

In order to contain the spread of the virus, the popular chain closed all of its stores in the Chinese mainland from January 26 to March 12. After China brought the virus under control in most of the country, Haidilao reopened restaurants in 15 cities on March 12. 

In April, Haidilao raised its menu prices after resuming dine-in services, but later apologized and returned to its prices prior to January 26. Xibei, a chain restaurant which specializes in delicacies from Northwestern China, has also withdrawn a decision to raise food prices.