After austerity, restaurants regain their appetite

Belt tightening has had a salutary effect on industry, expert says

Three years after the Chinese government declared war on the misuse of public funds on meals, travel and in other areas, knocking the stuffing out of the catering industry, fresh life seems be coming back to the business.

This new vitality appears to be due mainly to activity in the medium to low end of the industry. In the first nine months of this year revenue in catering grew 11.7 percent to 2.3 trillion yuan ($317 billion) compared with the corresponding period last year, the first double-digit growth since late 2012, the China Cuisine Association says.