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Hotel, catering industry turnover surges in August
By Zhao Tingting (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-09-18 17:29

The Chinese hotel and catering industry collected a retail turnover of 124.5 billion yuan ($18.18 billion) in August, up 26.3 percent year-on-year, said the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the industry's retail turnover totaled 961.95 billion yuan during the January-August period, up 24.6 percent year-on-year. The growth rate is 6.5 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The hotel and catering industry contributed 14.1 percent and made up 3.4 percent in growth of the total retail turnover of consumer goods nationwide during the same period.

The industry is expected to maintain its rapid growth in the second half year; a ministry official said to Shanghai Securities News. It is expected that the industry's retail turnover will hit 380 billion yuan in the third quarter, up 24.7 percent year-on-year and 1.54 billion yuan for the whole year, up 24.5 percent year-on-year.

The per capita consumption in accommodation and catering may reach 1,158 yuan in 2008, up 23.9 percent year-on-year, according to the official.

The industry collected a retail turnover of 116.8 billion yuan in July, up 26.5 percent year-on-year.


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