China's catering sector reaped 541.75 billion yuan (US$66.9 billion) in retail sales revenue in the first eight months of 2005, up 17.6 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Commerce reported Monday.

The increase was 4.6 percentage points higher than the growth in China's retail sales of consumer goods, said the report.

The catering sector realized a retail sales volume of 71.23 billion yuan (US$8.8 billion) in August, accounting for 14.1 percent of the country's total retail sales.

According to the report, foreign investors set up 567 catering businesses in the first eight months in China, down 1.1 percent from a year earlier, but the contracted foreign investment in the catering industry rose by 27.53 percent to US$643.09 million year-on-year.  

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2005)