China's catering sector bounces back during holiday

BEIJING - The sales revenue of China's catering sector during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday was 5.4 percent higher than the same occasion in 2019, indicating the sector is returning to pre-COVID-19 levels, tax data showed Thursday.

The sales revenue of the sector soared by 358.4 percent during the Feb 11 to Feb 17 period from the Spring Festival holiday in 2020, which had been hit by the country's rapid and massive response to prevent and control COVID-19, according to the value-added tax data released by the State Taxation Administration.

In the wholesale and retail sectors, sales revenue rose by 27.9 percent during the holiday from the previous Spring Festival break, the data showed.

In the culture, sports and entertainment sectors, the sales revenue rose by 117.1 percent. Of these, the cultural and art services went up by 111.6 percent, entertainment services expanded by 128.7 percent, sports services rose by 77.4 percent, and the tourism and entertainment services climbed 57.4 percent.

Following the recent resurgence of sporadic COVID-19 cases, the country has encouraged people to stay put over the holiday to reduce the risk of infections.

As a result, consumer spending in large cities has increased remarkably. For example, consumer spending rose by 44.2 percent in Beijing, 32 percent in Shanghai and 31.1 percent in Guangdong (including Shenzhen) during the holiday, the data showed.