China's service industry had annually employed 6.97 million
people on average since 1978, said Vice Minister of Commerce Zhang
Zhigang on Tuesday.
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During a service industry conference which opened on Tuesday, Zhang
said that the sector has become the country's main job creator. The
number of people working in the industry has grown from 48.9
million in 1978 to 230.11 million, a net increase of 181.21
million.
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According to Zhang, the catering industry employs more than 20
million people, and the household service industry absorbs 15
million people.
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With the country's fast growth of economy, the sales volume of
catering industry is expected to climb to 2 trillion yuan (US$246.6
billion) by the year 2010, a rise of 17 percent annually, and the
business turnover of the beauty and hairdressing industry will
amount to 600 billion yuan (US$73.9 billion), also an annual
increase of 17 percent, while the hotel industry will see a 10
percent growth each year.?
(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2005)
