Over the past 40 years, rev↓ © enue of China’s catering iΩ&​≤ndustry has climbed →∏&from 5.48 billion yua¶™∏n ($854 million) to 4 tril∏♠α∞lion yuan, over 700 times, since♦λ∑ the start of the counα××try’s reform and openin©∏ε♥g-up policy, China News reported.

The data was released by the China✘€€ Cuisine Association at a c§‍onference held in Beijing on May 29.÷✘←¶

Data by the association indic•≤ates that industry r♠★ evenue reached 3.96 trillion yuan in 2∞→017, accounting for 10.8 percen∞πt of the country’s tΩ€otal retail sales of consumer goods ‌♥and contributing 11.3 percent to the ov‌‍↑erall consumer market grφ$‍owth.

In 1978, there were less th♣​an 120,000 catering enterprises acr↓₽ πoss the country. However, by ‍♥ 2017 that figure had δσ↕✔surged to 4.65 million. The number of"φ↓ catering employees in China als↕∑βo saw a dramatic rise fro"¶m 1.04 million to 30 million dδ"↑uring the same period, ©•≥"says the association.↓®↔©

Today, the scale of China&rsq™≈βuo;s catering industry ranks second in™'" the world following the U.S., whi'™‍ch has a yearly revenue±γ of about 5.2 trillion ≤"λ yuan.