Number of vegetarian restaurants grows in China

Beijing. February 19. Silkroadnews - Number of vegetarian restaurants grows in China, the South China Morning Post reports.
“Over the past few years, China’s restaurant industry has welcomed a growing number of entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the popularity of healthy eating, which usually means a meatless, organic and environmentally friendly diet. The niche market of vegetarian and vegan eateries has never been more competitive. In Shanghai, the number soared from 49 in 2012 to more than 100 last year,” the report said.
It is noted, there is no official statistics on the number of vegans and vegetarians in China. A study conducted by researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2016 showed that 0.77% of the 4,000 people surveyed in the city are vegetarians. The Chinese state media referred to data by America’s International Public Radio saying there are about 50 million vegetarians in China, or about 3.5% of the population, yet, according to Chinese dieticians, the actual reading could hardly exceed 1%.
According to research firm Euromonitor, China is still the world’s biggest market for pork, beef and poultry, but demand has declined somewhat in recent years: pork sales fell from 42.49 million tonnes in 2014 to 40.85 million tonnes in 2016.
A new dietary guideline issued by China’s health industry two years ago also suggests eating less meat, poultry and seafood.