China's food delivery industry expects to account for more than 20 percent of the catering industry this year, the People's Daily reported on Wednesday.

Ordering food online has became an integral part of modern urban life in the country. In 2019, China's food delivery industry market was worth 653.6 billion yuan, surging 39.3 percent from a year earlier, and in addition, among 900 million Chinese internet users, 460 million ordered food online, increasing 12.7 percent year-on-year, said the People's Daily, citing a survey from market consultancy iResearch.

This year, the business of eating in restaurants has seen immense downward momentum caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. The situation has encouraged and strengthened the habit of ordering food online and the food takeout business has become an important source of income for restaurants.

The contribution of the food delivery business to the catering industry is increasing year by year, and is also changing the profit pattern of catering enterprises to become a new engine driving the catering industry, Zhao Ping, director of the international trade research department at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Academy, was quoted as saying by the People's Daily.

China's food delivery industry market tends to be stable, but is still not saturated, said the newspaper, citing experts. The industry will develop into a trillion-yuan market during the next one to three years.

As the main customers, the generations born in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s create more diversified demands for the food delivery industry. Besides breakfast, lunch and dinner, extra meals such as brunch, afternoon tea and midnight snacks are also important to the food delivery industry. According to data from online-to-offline service platform Meituan-Dianping, 20 percent of users get accustomed to extra meals.

As consumers' health awareness is constantly improving, customers prefer to order nutritious food with consistency and variety rather than something that only fills the stomach.

Competition in the food delivery industry is seeing a change in its drivers, from coupons to efficiency and quality. The industry has grown from its initial stage, relying on discounts, to a more mature stage focused on delivery efficiency and food quality, the People's Daily said.