Retail sales of chocolate products surged to $186 million in 1996 from $15.4 million in 1988. Chocolate purchases tend to be concentrated in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and much of the new business has gone to foreign manufacturers, China Daily Business Weekly said, quoting Tang Tianshui, director of the food and paper industry office of the state light industry bureau.

Despite the increase, per capita consumption of chocolate on the mainland is only 0.03 kilograms annually, lagging far behind the 5 kilograms consumed in Australia and the United States and 13 to 14 kilograms gobbled up in Switzerland, the world's leading consumer of chocolate, business weekly said.

Tang said foreign brands are attractive to Chinese consumers because they put huge investment into packaging and advertising,while Chinese manufacturers have yet to recognize the importance of these factors. The strangely waxy and bland-tasting Chinese-made chocolate is mostly produced by township enterprises and other small food- processing factories which lack sufficient raw materials and adequate production technology, Tang said.