China's catering industry exceeds 4 trln yuan in 2018

A visitor tastes honey mixed with fruit juice at the Food & Agricultural Products area during the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 7, 2018. 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/Shen Bohan)