I. The growth rate of catering leads the society at zero, and the role of consumption base is highlighted

According to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on May 18, in April 2026, the total revenue from the restaurant industry nationwide was 426 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.2%. Catering revenue of units above designated size was 128.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.9%. From January to April, 2026, the national catering revenue was 1.8883 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.8%; Catering revenue of units above designated size was 550.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%.

The China Cuisine Association analyzed that the growth rate of national catering revenue in January-April was 1.9 percentage points higher than the growth of total retail sales of consumer goods, accounting for 11.4% of total retail revenue, showing that the catering industry played an important role in the overall consumption recovery.

2. The direction of policy leadership is clear and the path of industry transformation is clear

In April, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued an important directive on the development of the service industry, emphasizing "promoting the high-quality, diversified and convenient development of the life service industry" and cultivating the "Chinese service" brand. At the national level, policies such as the Work Programme for Improving the Quality of Service Consumption for the People's Action 2026 and several policy measures on expanding service consumption have continued to be implemented, providing clear guidance for the transformation of the restaurant industry from scale expansion to quality improvement. Against this background, the restaurant industry has proactively laid out new business forms, new models and new scenarios, accelerating the deep integration of "catering + culture," "catering + technology" and "catering + retail."

III. New business forms, new models and new scenarios lead to industry upgrading

Cultural IP enables the old name. The old name of Guangzhou's liquor restaurant has broken down. Innovatively build a three-tier cultural space network with "core flagship + satellite window + mobile touchpoints," create "eating" historical banquets and "wear Cantonese" cultural and creative foods, incubate "drink tea" social IPs, and turn non-heritage into an interactive vehicle and social currency for young people.

Immersive cultural experiences. Yuyuan Culture, guided by the Eastern aesthetic of life, has achieved the upgrading from functional consumption to immersive cultural experiences that are "considerable, tasteful, participative and shareable" through space remodeling, non-heritage experience, brand cross-border, and global layout.

The banquet blends deep immersion. See Oriental builds a "banquet in a theater and a drama in a banquet" model through authentic historical compounds + content narratives + immersive experiences, enabling a deep integration of taste, visual and emotional experiences.

Culture, food and travel are integrated. Tangshan Catering constructs "five streets, two alleys and one river" immersive consumption scenes, transforming the dining space into a cultural landmark. Activate non-heritage resources, create experienceable cultural exhibitions, and enhance the consumer experience with diverse services and interactions.

Space reconstruction of poetry and painting. With its highly recognizable "natural caves + cliff walks + river panoramic" scene, Ganyu inspires consumer social sharing, forming an innovative growth path of "experience as communication."

An outdoor camping barbecue. Haidilao's outdoor camping barbecue packages extend the traditional hot pot service to outdoor scenes. Consumers can book a one-stop camping barbecue solution containing ovens, ingredients and seasonings through official channels, with home delivery service. This innovation combines barbecue with the spring camping boom, which meets consumers' social needs for "fireworks," and expands the boundaries of service, reflecting the requirements of "diversification."

Low flying economy + dining. Old bowl will team up with Meituan drones to create a 15-minute low-altitude fast delivery network. By adapting customized products, aviation packaging and proprietary processes through the whole chain, we can expand all-time and multi-scenario consumption, break the boundaries of time and space, and open a new curve of performance growth.

A community-based citizen model. Purple Garden pioneered a diverse store model of "one store, six stores," and uses "gang +" as the core to achieve full-time operation. Relying on community street layouts, we have cultivated a convenient life circle, and built a convenient and benefits-for-people community dining model through thousands of private community operations and a standardized supply chain with a "front store, back factory."

The third space for tea drinks. By creating themed concept stores, King Tea House incorporates local culture to create an immersive "third space," and builds a new model of tea consumption that combines health values and cultural experiences.

Thematic nutrition experience. Shu Wang Yifu has precision nutrition, from "eating full" to "eating right." Relying on digital and scenario-based innovation, we can achieve a new leap from standardized feeding to precision and personalized nutrition customized services by building differentiated nutrition standards, creating transparent and intelligent management systems, building themed nutrition experience scenarios, and strengthening the origin-tracing quality control system.

At present, the restaurant industry is rapidly breaking down traditional boundaries, and "high quality, diversification and convenience" has become the core growth line. Cultural IP, technology integration, scene reconstruction, and community cultivation will become the key track of future competition. Consumers continue to upgrade from "eating full" to "eating good, eating culture and eating experiences."

With the continuous strengthening of various consumption promotion policies in the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the restaurant industry will steadily advance on the track of high-quality development. The China Culinary Association will continue to lead the industry in deepening supply-side structural reform, building a full-time and multi-scenario consumption ecology, further unlocking the potential of catering consumption, and contributing more force to the improvement of service consumption to benefit the people and the modernization of the service industry.