The launch ceremony of the Xiamen food festival in Jimei district, Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/WeChat account: xiamen_swj]

The Xiamen Food Festival was launched at the Intime Department Store in Jimei district, Xiamen, Fujian province on Dec 12.

Hundreds of restaurants will hold various themed food promotion events at the main venue in the Intime Department Store during the festival while the sub-venues in Xiamen's districts will carry out events such as Xiamen's Delicacies Selection.

In addition to offline events, the online festival will also be held, focusing on four aspects of people's life – catering services, beauty and fashion, home, and recreation.

This year, Xiamen has introduced a series of supportive policies to help catering businesses recover from losses incurred by COVID-19 and boost consumption. Even though many businesses had to face severe challenges, the catering industry has still made fruitful achievements, said Chen Yuejin, deputy director of the municipal bureau of commerce.

The municipal bureau of commerce and the Xiamen Association of Commerce Chamber have also bolstered their efforts to boost the catering industry such as attracting over 20,000 local catering, fruit, flowers and recreational service businesses as well as over 30,000 deliverymen during last month's Double 11 festival, which generated a 13.8 percent increase in trade.