Xinhua has a report on China's food and beverage industry:

People go to restaurants not just for delicious food. They gather for reunions, dating, fun, negotiations and even for work meetings.

Whatever the reason, such diners are the backbone of China's robust catering industry. The Ministry of Commerce estimates a total turnover of 730 billion yuan (US$90 billion) for this year alone, a 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) jump over the target set at the end of last year...

...South China's Guangzhou sees the greatest number of diners with more money spent at restaurants than in any other part of China.

The southern city is followed closely by Shanghai, with Beijing coming in third.

The statistics from the Beijing Municipal Commercial Bureau reckon that Beijingers spent 29.47 billion yuan (US$3.55 billion) on food in the past six months, nearly 30 per cent of which went to restaurants.

The article is here.