The catering industry in Zhongshan is showing a stable and better development trend.[File photo by Yu Zhaoyu]

Zhongshan's consumer market has seen a slight growth in the first three months of this year, according to the Zhongshan Commercial Affairs Bureau. The total retail sales of consumer goods reached 37.714 billion yuan, up by 0.2% year-on-year.

Categorized by consumption types, the commodity retailing sales totaled 34.475 billion yuan, decreasing by 0.4%, while the catering industry revenue stood at 3.239 billion yuan, rising by 7.0%.

Categorized by locations, retail sales of consumer goods in urban area and rural area increased 4.0% and 11.5%, respectively, to 137.915 billion yuan and 11.164 billion yuan.

Categorized by industries, the sales of wholesale and retail trade was 136.579 billion yuan, up by 4.4%. And the sales of accommodation and catering services reached 12.5 billion yuan, up by 6.1%.

Analysis indicates that the catering industry has become a new engine for Zhongshan's service industry development. In recent years, it shows a trend that catering service providers start to enter large commercial complexes one after another. They have become an important part of the commercial buildings and will account for a larger proportion of the merchants inside.