In line with the construction of an international consumption center city, Guangzhou recently released its "Guangzhou Catering Industry High-Quality Development Plan (2024-2035)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Development Plan"), which is based on the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Catering Industry" jointly issued by nine departments including the Ministry of Commerce. The Development Plan aims to polish the golden signboard of "Eating in Guangzhou" by transforming the city into a world-renowned gastronomic city that blends traditional Cantonese cuisine with fashionable international dining, outstanding culinary specialties with cultural richness, and leading global culinary trends over the next 12 years.

"Eating in Guangzhou" serves as the distinctive emblem of the city, which is among the first of the five major international consumption centers to introduce a catering industry plan.

The "Development Plan" focuses on the construction of an international consumption center and uses big data to comprehensively analyze the foundation of Guangzhou's catering industry. Guangzhou, known as the "Capital of Chinese Cuisine" and "International Cuisine Capital," is a member of the "World Food Cities Network" in the Chinese mainland. By the end of 2023, the total number of catering business registrations in the city reached 240,000, with nearly 134 restaurants per ten thousand people, ranking first nationwide in terms of density. The city boasts a dining circle accessible within a quarter of an hour.

Regarding the catering structure, Guangzhou has developed a diverse landscape featuring Cantonese cuisine as the foundation, embracing a myriad of international influences. By the end of 2023, there were over 100,000 Cantonese-style dining establishments, with over 40% of them categorized as formal dining, ranking Guangzhou first nationwide in terms of the number of Cantonese-style dining establishments. Additionally, there were 35,000 restaurants featuring specialties from other regions and 21,000 international cuisine establishments, with a clear upward trend in growth. The multitude of dining establishments demonstrates Guangzhou's robust potential for catering consumption and promising prospects for the food service industry.

The "Development Plan" elaborates on the current development status, predicts future trends, and identifies five major advantages for the development of Guangzhou's catering industry: (1) being an international consumption center, (2) the driving force of the "Eating in Guangzhou" brand, (3) the aggregation of resources in the Cantonese cuisine stronghold, (4) abundant related industries, and (5) the city's massive flow of people.

The plan systematically lays out the spatial pattern of Guangzhou's "Catering Core Area—Catering Feature Area" and constructs a "5+3+N" overall layout system for catering aggregation zones. This entails enhancing the quality of the core catering area in the central urban district and creating differentiated catering feature areas in the peripheral urban areas. The plan aims to establish five world-class landmark catering aggregation zones, setting a global benchmark for culinary consumption fashion.

Drawing on historical heritage, regional characteristics, and industrial advantages, the city will concentrate resources in three areas to develop distinctive culinary aggregation zones: Beijing Road Huifu Food Street area, Canton Tower-Party Pier area, and the southeastern core area of Zhujiang New Town. Additionally, efforts will be made to expand the scope of distinctive culinary aggregation zones, with a focus on developing the Shangxiajiu-Yongqingfang catering aggregation zone and promoting the development of Western-style cuisine in the Xiguan, Liwan District.