China's Retail Sales Of Dining And Lodging Increased By 26.5% In July

According to statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China's dining and lodging markets had a good beginning in the second half of 2008 and the retail sales in these industries reached CNY116.8 billion in July 2008, a year-on-year increase of 26.5%.

From January to July 2008, the total retail sales of catering and lodging sectors in China were CNY837.49 billion, a year-on-year increase of 24.3% and the growth rate was 6.5 percentage points higher than the same period last year. The retail sales of the hotel and catering industry, which stimulated a 3.3% growth of total retail sales of consumer goods, accounted for 14% of the nation's total domestic retail sales during the same period.

For the utilization of foreign capital in catering and lodging industries, in the first seven month of 2008, foreign hotel and catering enterprises established 399 new branches in China, a year-on-year decrease of 18.2%; contract value rose 4.3% to USD1.71 billion; and the foreign capital in actual use was USD560 million, a decrease of 4%.