Measures against the deadly virus disease have proved effective and successful, but meant that millions of scared people stayed indoor, causing a painful 90 percent drop in restaurant business.

Now the drastic downturn seems at an end as people flock to supermarkets and shopping malls in Beijing and the city's traffic jams reappear.

The famous Quanjude Roast Duck Chain Group, a 138-year-old brand, remained open throughout the SARS crisis, and sales at the Qianmen restaurant have doubled now in late April as compared to the peak of the epidemic.

"We now have one or two hundred guests daily", said a West District restaurant boss, surnamed Zhang on Thursday.

Customer numbers had been steadily falling over the past month, and none turned up at all in the latter stages of April.

Since mid-May the epidemic had been waning and local residents felt less panic.

"But the recovery rate is not fast enough, as some owners are simply waiting to see what happens and many staff are staying at homes in Beijing," Zhang said.

Bian Jiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Cuisine Association, told Xinhua Thursday that the catering sector was picking up and a host of restaurants had regained an occupancy rate of 60 to 70 percent.

China's catering services registered more than 500 billion yuan(US$60 billion) revenue for the first time in 2002, up 16.6 percent from the previous year. In Beijing metropolis, the industry recorded a 10 percent rise in the first quarter over the same period last year.

But SARS altered the situation and the industry plummeted at the start of April. Official statistics showed a 12 percent cut in the growth of the catering sector.

The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly adopted tax cuts or exemption policies for industries hard hit by SARS virus.

Catering was one of the businesses to benefit by the cuts, which were set for a five-month period, from May 1 through September 30.

Experts acknowledged that the tax benefits would reduce losses for catering trade and the industry was expected to return to its normal track in late May.

(People’s Daily May 24, 2003)