(Photo/Chinanews.com)

The turnover of China's online food delivery industry is expected to hit 603.5 billion yuan this year, according to a report on China's takeaway market jointly issued by Meituan Research Institute and the China Hospitality Association.

The continuous and rapid growth of the industry promoted online-offline integrated development, expanded scenarios for consumption, and injected new impetus into the development of the catering industry.

The industry has expanded its ecology, changing from a platform-based business to one that connects users, merchants and couriers and features various services, said Wang Puzhong, the senior vice president of Meituan, one of China's major online catering platforms.

According to the report, Meituan saw an increase of 103 percent in light meal orders in the first three quarters of 2019, which indicated the trend of both the platform and users pursuing healthier diet choices.

Moreover, online delivery platforms are becoming multi-functional. For instance, the number of orders of flowers, cosmetics and daily necessities has been growing rapidly.