Eating at home: A growing challenge in China

Chinese people like to ask others: "Have you eaten?" as a way to say, "Hi!" Yet, for city dwellers leading fast-paced lives, eating has become a task to refill energy in a hurry or a networking opportunity, rather than something to enjoy at home.

A new report says 92.8 percent of Chinese respondents think eating at home constitutes quality time for families, and they want to eat at home, while 75 percent say they would feel rewarded and valued if they cooked at home. However, only 45.7 percent say they are able to eat at home as much as twice a week, according to the survey by Benlai.com, a leading online shopping platform for food ingredients in China.

The report, released on July 9, was based on a questionnaire the company conducted recently and its user-behavior analysis of about 4 million customers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.