Renowned economist Ma Guangyuan: The essence of innovation is not about saving costs; improving dining quality is the key.

On March 24, the 2026 China Catering Industry Festival and the 35th HCC Global Catering Industry Expo, jointly hosted by the World Chinese Cuisine Industry Association and Hongcan.com, kicked off at the Hangzhou Convention and Exhibition Center. At the “2026 China Catering Industry Summit,” renowned economist Ma Guangyuan delivered a talk around “‘During the 15th Five-Year Plan period’: China’s new economic trends and the catering industry.”

Ma Guangyuan said that in the next five years, the economy will complete five major shifts, including moving from investment-driven growth to innovation-driven growth, from being a manufacturing giant to a consumption giant, from low-end consumption to high-end consumption, from being an export giant to a domestic-demand giant, and addressing gaps in social security while building a people’s livelihood-focused country.

△ Renowned economist Ma Guangyuan

Among them, the two major directions of economic transformation are innovation and consumption. On the innovation side, for the catering industry, the prerequisites for innovation can be divided into three areas: safety, health, and trustworthiness, among which trustworthiness is especially important. No matter which industry, companies that truly keep their promises and operate with integrity can survive; being forthright with consumers is the way to endure. Ma Guangyuan believes that the essence of innovation is not cutting costs. For example, in the catering supply chain, if reducing costs is placed first, it will ultimately have the opposite effect on all companies across the upstream and downstream. The real innovation should focus on quality. Businesses should enhance competitiveness by optimizing product quality and produce food that is better-tasting and healthier.

On the consumption side, from a global perspective, China’s final consumption and residents’ consumption do not rank particularly high as a share of GDP, leaving huge room for improvement. Therefore, everyone who works on consumption should study the consumption habits and needs of different groups. For example, young people pursue personalized experiences; older people give rise to the silver economy, which is one of the groups with the greatest consumption potential worldwide. Industries such as catering can develop health-focused foods in a targeted manner.

Author: Hongcan Editorial Department