Photo: VCG
The catering sector, a major pillar of China's consumption-driven economy, continues to show strong signs of recovery and growth despite ongoing challenges. As of now, China boasts over 15.568 million active and well-established catering-related enterprises, including 406,000 new ones being registered in 2025, China National Radio (CNP) reported on Monday, citing company information website Tianyancha.
Some Western media reported that China's dining industry is under strain, with nearly 3 million restaurant closures in 2024 due to economic pressures.
Reuters reported that the number of dissolved catering companies peaked at historic high of almost 3 million nationwide, citing data from Qichacha.
Over the past five years, the number of registrations for catering-related enterprises has shown a year-on-year increasing trend, reaching its peak in 2024, said the CNR report.
The figures indicated that China's catering industry is maintaining a stable growth amid complex landscape, Yang Liu, president of the China Cuisine Association, told the Global Times on Monday.
While the Chinese catering market faces fierce competition and consumption downgrade, Yang noted that overall expansion and strong market potential remain as highlighted by the continuous growth in catering consumption, driven by holiday spending and the debut economy in the first two months of the year.
Yang's remarks follow the sector's strong recovery in 2024 when the number of registered catering enterprises reached 3.57 million, bringing the total number to 16.806 million. The figure hit a record high last year, according to an industry report.
In 2024, China's catering consumption reached 5.57 trillion yuan ($768 billion), accounting for more than 11 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods and making it the largest single category, official data showed.
In the first two months of 2025, sales revenue of the gastronomy sector recorded sales of about 979.2 billion yuan, displaying an increase of around 4.3 percent compared with the same period of the previous year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
"The figures are impressive, indicating that we are on a positive development trajectory," Yang said.
With new consumption-boosting measures in place, catering consumption is set to enter a new phase of growth. Meanwhile as spring brings warmer weather, several Chinese cities such as Chengdu and Shanghai are launching a series of promotional activities to spur local spending. Local delicacies and night economy zones are at the forefront of these efforts, competing to introduce attractive consumption-boosting packages.
"These initiatives have significantly invigorated the catering market. Both the supply and demand sides are experiencing robust growth, with businesses reporting increased foot traffic and higher sales," Yang noted.
In recent years, the central government has introduced a series of measures to support high-quality growth in the catering sector, pledging to further enhance food safety, improve the skills of industry professionals and help more Chinese restaurants explore the international market.
China also issued a new plan to boost consumption, pledging to enhance catering service quality and support local specialty cuisine. The plan, jointly announced by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, was reported by Xinhua on March 16.
