China's SARS-affected catering industry will return to pre-outbreak business volumes by August.

The catering industry's current turnover is 10% to 15% on year below levels at the same time in 2002, survey results by the China Cuisine Association said.

China's outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome resulted in the suspension of business of 80% to 90% of restaurants in the hardest-hit cities such as Beijing, the capital.

The potentially deadly flu-like illness hammered the retail service, hospitality and tourism sectors as public fear of contagion at the height of the outbreak in April and May emptied restaurants and shuttered storefronts.

The restaurant closures contributed to a wave of layoffs that a recent report by the China Academy for Social Sciences estimates resulted in the loss of nearly 10 million urban jobs.

The central government has launched an economic rescue package for SARS-affected sectors.

The government measures have included directives to the state banks to increase lending to SARS-hit industries as well as an increase in fixed-asset investment to stimulate job creation.

The majority of those closed restaurants in the urban centers worst affected by SARS have since reopened and recorded turnovers that rose about 50% in June compared with the previous month.

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