China's consumption and service industry continues its recovery trend with renewed enthusiasm among the public for dining and in restaurants, bars and take-away vendors.

After the eight-day Spring Festival holiday that ended on Feb 17, offline consumption vitality quickly rebounded. Data from the State Information Center shows the average value of offline consumption activity, from January to February, increased by 3.9 percent year on year.

At around 18:00, just as residents begin clocking out at work, a shopping mall in Xizhimen of downtown Beijing becomes bustling with a diverse crowd.

Chen Xiaolei, store manager of the mall's location of milk tea chain Naixue Tea, reported a considerable growth in business.

"Sales at our store in Xizhimen increased year-on-year and month-on-month in 2024. Last month saw a 24.7 percent growth in sale," said Chen.

He added the Naixue Tea's retail stores are observing two significant shifts, an increase in family footfall and robust in-store spending.

The catering sector generated sales of nearly 5.3 trillion yuan (about 745 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, up 20.4 percent. Retail sale of services grew 20 percent, 14.2 percentage points faster than retail sales of goods, said the National Bureau of Statistics.

The bureau's report added that in 2023, final consumption drove economic growth by 4.3 percentage points, 3.1 percentage points higher than the previous year.

According to a consumer landscape report by Nielsen Consumer, in the second half of 2023, the country's consumer goods sector has shown steady recovery, with the food service industry experiencing rapid and sustained growth. The offline fast-moving consumer goods market has achieved a 92 percent recovery rate in 2023, as compared to the same period in 2019, indicating a strong rebound in consumer activity.