Chinese people annually spend $98.6 billion at restaurants, or 900 times the cost of China's recent second manned space mission, it was revealed at a national chef's festival held in central China's Wuhan city.

Along with rapid economic growth and the improvement of living standards, eating out has become common in recent years on the Chinese mainland, boosting the development of China's catering sector.

Last year, the sector's retail sales exceeded the $86.3 billion level for the first time to reach $92.3, a year-on-year increase of $16.4 billion, or 21.56 per cent.

In the first eight months, retail sales rose to $9.9 billion, or 17.6 per cent, over the year-earlier level, to $66.8 billion, Xinhua news agency reported.

If the sector maintains its pep, the figure will likely reach $108.6 billion at the end of this year, top $123.3 billion in 2006 and even double to $246.6 billion in five years, the report said.

Last year China's catering sector had more than four million restaurants and other outlets, 34 times the 1978 level, and a workforce of 18 million people, 16 times the level 27 years ago.