Business turnover of China's catering industry in 2003 will not grow at a bigger rate than a year ago, but is expected to maintain a two-digit growth at 12 percent, said Zhang Shiyao, president of the China Cuisine Association.

The SARS outbreak in China dealt a heavy blow to the catering sector during the first half of the year.

In April, the sector reported its business turnover rise by only 2.1 percent year-on-year, 14 percentage points lower than the growth rate during the first quarter.

In May, its turnover nationwide went down by 15.5 percent year- on year and all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, except for Heilongjiang, Guizhou and Qinghai provinces, saw a drop in the business turnover.

The Ministry of Commerce launched a plan in August to boost the catering sector by increasing support to chain businesses, promotion activities, exploration of services in wider areas, and market development.

Since China opened itself to the outside world over two decades ago, the catering industry has witnessed a rapid growth, taking in a record 500 billion yuan (60 billion US dollars) in 2002, accounting for 8.1 percent of the country's retail sales of consumer goods.

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