China's catering industry exceeds 4 trln yuan in 2018

People taste crayfish at a restaurant in Xuyi County of Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 23, 2018. Crayfish is the renowned specialty in Xuyi County. China's food and beverage (F&B) industry posted a record high of 4.27 trillion yuan (636 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue in 2018, the China Cuisine Association said Sunday. The F&B industry revenue accounted for 11.2 percent of the total volume of retail sales last year, up 0.4 percentage points from 2017, said Jiang Junxian, president of the association. The F&B industry also contributed 20.9 percent to consumption growth in 2018, he said. (Xinhua/Zhou Haijun)