Chinese foodies spent almost half a trillion US dollars on eating out last year, a sum greater than some countries' entire gross domestic product.
Chinese people in 2016 spent 507 billion US dollars dining out, an increase of 13 percent from 2015, according to a report by Meituan-Dianping, China's popular local on-demand service platform.
To give you an idea of what that means, the sum was greater than the GDPs of countries like Sweden, Belgium and Norway, according to 2015 figures from the World Bank.
CGTN Graphic
Hotpot - a communal meal where people dip various meats, vegetables and other delicacies into a boiling, sometimes spicy, broth - was Chinese diners' favorite food, making up 22 percent of the market share, followed by buffet meals, Sichuan cuisine and snacks.
The take-out food industry saw revenues of 21.8 billion US dollars, making up four percent of the entire catering industry. This was expected to reach 10 percent next year.
Hotpot. /VCG Photo
A total of 2.45 million shops launched a take-out food service in 2016, and almost 40 percent of catering businesses offered such a service last year, said the report.
It also showed that 74 percent of people using the Meituan-Dianping app were young people aged between 20 and 35.
Meituan-Dianping is the world's largest online and on-demand delivery platform, reaching up to 10 million daily orders and deliveries. It has over 180 million monthly active users and 600 million registered users as of June 2016.
