News from a commercial working meeting in Wuhan is that in 2010, the city will launch a series of measures to optimize its business functions, to improve the quality of consumable items for citizens, and to achieve over 15% growth of total retail sales.

A leading Chinese alcohol company Wuliangye has published its annual performance report for 2009, stating that net profit attributable to the shareholders of its listed unit increased by 79.45% year-on-year, to CNY3.249 billion.

Ajisen (China) Holdings Limited, the noodle restaurant chain, has announced that it has launched a high-end restaurant brand named Wakayama in Hong Kong.

Having already fed the Chinese market for over 20 years, the international fast food giant McDonald's has now announced plans to update its brand concept and will soon start to provide free wireless Internet services across China.

In a reprise of the melamine scandals of 2008 and 2009, the Shanghai Municipal Food Safety Joint Conference Office, has announced that the Shanghai Panda Dairy Company has been punished by the local food supervision department for producing and selling dairy products contaminated with melamine.

Xiabu Xiabu, a Taiwan-invested hotpot restaurant chain, has opened its 100th restaurant in Daxing, Beijing.