In 2025, the Chinese catering industry experienced a fierce internal competition, with over 3 million establishments closing their doors. This not only included many new businesses operating for less than two years, but also renowned longstanding eateries such as Shun Feng Restaurant in Beijing, Republican Red Mansion in Nanjing, and the “Old Shanghai Hotel” in Shanghai.
According to the “2026 China Catering Chain Development White Paper” jointly released by the China Chain Operation Association and Meituan, the number of businesses marked as closed in the Meituan system reached 3.39 million in 2025, an increase of 9.4% compared to 2024, indicating a brutal market reshuffle in the industry.
The White Paper also reveals that by the end of 2025, there were approximately 7.47 million operating catering businesses nationwide, showing a trend of “slight overall decrease and intensified elimination” in the catering market.
Among the businesses that closed in 2025, 23.8% were newly opened that year, while 41.3% were opened in 2024, totaling 65.1%. This means that nearly two-thirds of the closed businesses had operational lifespans of less than two years, being eliminated from the market due to insufficient competitiveness.
Reports from Red Catering Network show that the homogenization and intensification of competition in the Chinese catering industry have led to vicious price competition, squeezing single-store profit margins, prolonging return on investment cycles, and significantly increasing the turnover rate of outlets, presenting a clear trend of “quick opening and closure” that constantly shortens the life cycle of catering stores.
Among the closed restaurants, there are many iconic establishments. A recent report by the Beijing Business Daily stated that Shun Feng Restaurant, known for its high-end Cantonese cuisine and seafood, has completely withdrawn from the Beijing market, with all Beijing stores closed. The main store at the Agricultural Exhibition Centre stands abandoned, while the Asian Games Village store is being demolished.
Furthermore, the parent company has been listed by the court as a limited height object, with consumers left unable to retrieve balances as high as 60,000 yuan on their stored value cards.
This year, the company has accumulated 29 new judicial cases, predominantly involving disputes related to purchase contracts, property leasing contracts, and labor disputes, including issues such as unpaid supplier payments, property rent, and employee salaries.
进入北京市场的顺峰餐厅于1993年创立，在北京拥有多家门店，并以高端粤菜和海鲜而闻名。
According to various media reports, Shun Feng had outlets in major historical cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai that are not operating normally anymore. Once boasting 38 branches nationwide and with brand assets valued at as high as 966 million in 2006, this renowned Cantonese restaurant chain has almost completely collapsed.
Blogger “Cai Xiaoxia” believes that the exit of Shun Feng is not a sudden collapse but a result of years of “chronic blood loss.” It signifies the failure of an entire generation of high-end dining models in a new consumer environment.
In the past, high-end dining largely depended on business banquets and “face consumption,” but such demand has significantly contracted today. Simultaneously, a large number of mid to high-end dining brands have entered the market, with products, environments, and services rapidly upgrading, while prices continue to decline.
Once the customer unit price drops, profit margins are quickly squeezed due to the high rent, labor costs, and losses associated with high-end dining. Ultimately, the pressure from operations transfers to finances, leading to issues such as delayed supplier payments, employee wage disputes, and challenges with refunds for stored value cards. When cash flow breaks, the closure of outlets becomes only a matter of time.
Shun Feng Restaurant is not alone in this struggle. On February 10, Shanghai’s well-known brand, Xiao Nanguo, announced the temporary suspension of operations for its ten restaurants.
Founded in 1987, Xiao Nanguo landed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2012. The brand previously operated multiple chains, including Xiao Nanguo, Nanxiaoguan, and Huigongguan, with a network once spanning over ten cities nationwide.
Additionally, according to several reports by Chinese media outlets in January, Xi Bei You Mian Village will close all its 102 stores nationwide, with founder Jia Guolong confirming the news.
According to Incomplete statistics from Win Business Network, over 90 catering chain brands closed in 2025, many of which were once considered “queue kings.”
According to information provided by blogger “Catering Insights,” as well as searches and verifications by Epoch Times reporters, the catering brands that closed in 2025 included internet-famous restaurants, renowned old establishments, and large chain catering enterprises.
In January, three outlets of Chongqing’s popular internet-famous brand “Li Liangliang Chongqing Xiaomian” closed their doors.
In February, Shanghai’s internet-famous Japanese food brand “Little Hoe Master Teppanyaki” announced the closure of all its stores.
From March to April, Guangzhou’s long-standing hotpot restaurant “Yige Macau Douluo” successively announced the closure of its Liwan Parc Central and Dezhi Land stores. Established in 2007, this Hong Kong-style hotpot restaurant was known as the “Moonlight” of old Guangzhou.
In May, Din Tai Fung announced the closure of its Ningbo Guojin Center store on May 28, making it the 18th store to close in mainland China. The Guangzhou seafood restaurant giant “Fisherman Village Yangji Store,” with 28 directly operated stores, closed due to the expiration of its lease.
In June, the once-coveted “Happy Cow Cakes” officially ceased operation due to “cost increases, intense market competition, and management mistakes.”
In July, the Guangzhou old-fashioned Cantonese restaurant “Taoranxuan Erlin Island Store” officially ceased external operations. All 11 outlets of “BreadTalk” in Chengdu closed down, leaving consumers with nowhere to refund, showing a trend of accelerated contraction across the national market.
In August, specialty dining and internet-famous brands faced challenges. Foshan’s Haoxing Seafood Restaurant closed; the famous hotpot brand “Zhu Guangyu Hotpot Restaurant” stopped operations in its 5 stores in Changsha.
In September, the only mainland branch of the legendary Michelin three-star Fu Lin Hotel in Hong Kong—Beijing’s Michelin one-star restaurant Fu Lin Hotel—announced the official closure of its business from October 15.
The Nanjing “Republican Red Mansion” old store posted a notice stating “internal adjustments, suspending operations,” with similar scenes simultaneously appearing in many stores such as Fuzimiao, Daxinggong, and Hexi Golden Olympics. Established in 2009, this brand was known for its Huaiyang cuisine and Republic-style decoration, once hailed as the “culinary ceiling of Nanjing.”
In September, all 12 Shanghai stores of Awfully Chocolate, which entered China in 2007, all “suspended operations.”
In October, the nearly 150-year-old “Shanghai Old Hotel” closed two branches; the first Sino-foreign joint venture French bakery in Shanghai, “Jing’an Bakery,” significantly reduced its operations; 85°C officially withdrew from the Beijing market; and the popular hotpot brand “Shangshangqi Hotpot” saw clustered store closures.
By the end of the third quarter of 2025, the number of Burger King China stores had decreased by 196.
In November, Starbucks’ first store in Taiyuan, operating for over a decade, closed.
In December, a closure crisis erupted for the well-established baking brand Feeler in Changsha, with all its city stores either closed or temporarily suspended.