By Zhu Peixian, Wang Pei, People’s Daily
Chinese restaurants are now welcoming customers back as COVID-19 subsides.
By upgrading business models and improving service quality, they have strengthened epidemic
prevention and control measures, advocated serving chopsticks and individual serving, launched
promotions and enhanced online services.
A hotpot restaurant in Zhengzhou, Central China’s Henan Province has changed the layout of the
dining room, increased the distance between tables, and launched contactless food ordering, to
make customers feel safe eating there.
“I’ve been craving for the food here for months. It’s really delicious,” said a citizen surnamed Li
when dining at the restaurant with his family on May 24. The tables were all occupied on that
Sunday noon.
“Customers pay the most attention to prevention measures we take. In this regard, we’ve been
constantly optimizing our services,” said Liu Yongtao, an executive of the restaurant. To create a
safe dining environment, the restaurant now offers serving chopsticks and the dishes are covered
when served.
Between January and April, the sales revenue of China’s catering industry decreased by 41.2
percent from a year ago to 833.3 billion yuan ($117 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said
on May 15. However, the catering industry is gradually picking up.
In May, the non-manufacturing business activity index moved up 0.4 percentage points over the
previous month to 53.6 percent, and the business activity index of the catering industry exceeded
55 percent.
As of May 31, more than 90 percent of the restaurants in Zhengzhou had reopened, with an
occupancy rate of nearly 80 percent.
Local authorities across China have also unveiled measures to revitalize the catering industry to
reduce and exempt taxes and fees, boost consumption and reinforce consumer confidence.
The sales of a music-themed restaurant in Shibei district of Qingdao, East China’s Shandong
Province finally bounced back recently. During the epidemic, the restaurant suffered a loss of
nearly 200,000 yuan each month and struggled to maintain its cash flow, according to Yuan Ning,
manager of the restaurant.
When it was stuck in difficulty, a working group was established by local authority to help entities
resume work and production. After visiting restaurants door-to-door, the team tailored different
strategies.
“The local authority has not only given advice on our operation, but also helped us expand
market,” said Yuan, referring to the food delivery service his restaurant now offers to nearby
companies. Nearly 1,000 meals are sold each month, he added.
“We investigated and helped every restaurant that reopened. In doing so, we hope to get more
restaurants out of difficulty,” said Shao Junfeng with the market supervision bureau of Shibei
district.
The provincial commerce department of Henan Province released a package of financial products
in collaboration with catering industry associations and financial institutions in the province.
Besides, by working with malls, wholesale agricultural markets and e-commerce platforms, it also
offers fair-price foodstuffs, reduces or exempts rentals, and cuts commission fees for catering
enterprises.
To help catering companies tide over the difficulties and help them lower operational cost, the
catering industry and restaurant association of Zhengzhou called on relevant parties to reduce
commission and fees for restaurants.
In Qingdao, companies that reduce or exempt rents during the epidemic will be listed as “good
landlords” who can enjoy preferential policies in financial assistance and branding at the end of
the year, introduced Lin Jun with the work office of private sector affairs in Shibei district.
According to him, the general office of Qingdao municipal government has issued a number of
assistance policies, helping over 110 restaurants save 3.2 million yuan in rent cost.
To revitalize consumption in the catering sector, Qingdao has launched a large-scale campaign that
encourages restaurants to carry out promotional activities. Relevant departments in Zhengzhou
also issued 400 million yuan worth of coupons to stimulate consumption, especially in the catering
sector.
