In China, eating out is now definitely in

Dine out today?

Great food is like great sex: The more you have, the more you want.

It's a saying that certainly applies to the Chinese, at least in the culinary sense, as recent figures show that people are spending more money on dining out.

A report released yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce shows that retail sales in the catering sector last year hit 1.03 trillion yuan, up 16.4 percent on 2005.

The figure accounts for 13.5 percent of the country's total retail sales of consumer goods. It has helped create about 20 million jobs, the report says.

Meanwhile, ministry figures show that in the first two months of this year, retail sales in the sector reached 205.91 billion yuan, up 17 percent on the same period in 2006.

"It's expected the growth will continue for the rest of the year, to estimated annual sales of 1.21 trillion yuan ($156 billion)," the report says.

The figures equate to every Chinese spending 915 yuan on dining out this year, compared with 790 yuan last year.

In the United States and France, the equivalent figures are $1,600 and $1,050, respectively.

"So there is still plenty of room for growth, especially in the country's vast rural areas," the report says.

Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou topped last year's chart for retail sales in the catering sector, with Shanghai, Jinan and Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province recording the highest growth rates.

好吃的美食就像美妙的性一樣。越吃越想吃。

這句話當然是針對熱愛美食的中國人來說的，最近有調查數據顯示，中國人在餐飲方面的開銷正在不斷增加。

商務部昨天公布的一份統計報告顯示，餐飲業去年的營業額達到10300億元，比2005年增加了16.4%。

這一數字占去年全國消費品總零售額的13.5%。此外，據統計報告顯示，餐飲業為全國創造了約2000萬個就業機會。

據統計，今年前兩個月，餐飲業的營業額達205.1億元，比去年同期上漲17%。

統計報告稱，“這一增長還將繼續，餐飲業今年的年營業額預計將達到12100億元?！?

也就是說，今年每個中國人在餐飲方面的平均消費預計為915元，高于去年的790元。

這一數字在美國和法國分別為1600美元和1050美元。

統計報告中說，“所以，餐飲業增長的空間還很大，尤其是在廣大的農村地區?！?

上海、北京、廣州去年的餐飲業營業額位居全國前三位，上海以及山東省的濟南和青島的增長率最高。