SHANGHAI, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Japanese cuisine has gained popularity in China in recent years, according to a Japanese trade agency.
Restaurants selling Japanese food in China increased from about 10,600 to 40,800 in 2017, according to the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO).
By the end of 2017, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai had the biggest numbers of Japanese restaurants.
The growth of Japanese restaurants slowed in first-tier cities in recent years, but second- and third-tier cities saw rapid expansion, indicating that Japanese cuisine has been spreading to more areas in China, according to JETRO.
An increasing number of Chinese visitors to Japan have tasted Japanese food, and expect to enjoy the cuisine when they come back to China, which is partly why the restaurants expanded so rapidly, according to the agency.
