The retail value of the accommodation and catering industry in Guangzhou has reached 114.32 billion yuan ($17.14 billion), exceeding that of Shanghai and Beijing and ranking first among cities in China, according to the Annual Report on Commercial and Trade Industry Development of Guangzhou (2018).
The report was released on July 12 in Guangzhou at a press conference jointly held by the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, the Guangzhou municipal commission of commerce, the Guangzhou General Chamber of Commerce, and Social Sciences Academic Press (CHINA).
According to the report, Guangzhou's retail sales of consumer goods totaled 940 billion yuan, ranking third among all cities for 30 consecutive years; and its cross-border e-commerce topped all other cities for four years running.
Cantonese dishes account for 40 percent in Chinese restaurants where per capita consumption exceeds 200 yuan. [Photo/xkb.com.cn]
It is estimated that the retail sales of consumer goods and the total value of goods imports and exports in Guangzhou will both surpass one trillion yuan by the end of 2018.
Big data of the catering industry indicates that China's restaurant business has achieved two-digit growth over the past 20 years and is expected to maintain a growth rate of more than 18 percent over the next few years.
At present, there are more than 6 million restaurants across China, accounting for 10.8 percent of the nation's total retail sales. And Guangzhou, renowned as a "culinary capital", has over 120,000 catering enterprises. The catering industry in the city has entered a new era in terms of both economic statistics and food culture.
The report also shows that the overall scale and strength of Guangzhou's commerce and trade increased steadily in 2017. The city's reform and innovation in domestic and foreign trade took the lead in the whole country, and its business environment was constantly optimized. E-commerce, cross-border e-commerce, market procurement, financial leasing and other new trade formats developed rapidly. Guangzhou's overall scale of cross-border e-commerce ranked first in the nation for four successive years, and the size of its market procurement ranked second.
