SARS Brings 5bn yuan Loss to China's Catering Industry

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 03, 2003

SARS Brings 5bn yuan Loss to China's Catering Industry

China's catering industry suffered five billion yuan (600 million US dollars) losses in the first half year due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

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China's catering industry suffered five billion yuan (600 million US dollars) losses in the first half year due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

The epidemic also slowed the industry's growth in the six months to 6.4 percent, 10.1 percentage points lower than a year earlier.

However, the China Cuisine Association remains confident of a fast growth for the whole year as the catering sector has been recovering since late May and is expected to achieve a total turnover of 570 billion yuan (69 billion US dollars), compared with 580 billion yuan predicted earlier this year.

As of early July, the daily sales of local restaurants returned to some 80 percent of the normal amount, and the growth momentum remains strong, according to the association.

SARS has forced local restaurants to pay greater attention to sanitary issues, omit dishes made from wild animals, and try to keep balanced nutrition, which also helps attract increasing numbers of customers.

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