A global gourmet festival with the aim of stimulating domestic \r\nspending during the ongoing 5-5 Shopping Festival kicked off in Shanghai\r\n on May 14.

Organized under the guidance of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of \r\nCommerce, the festival features 2,000 international catering brands \r\noffering 4,000 types of food.

A report on the city's diversity of catering options was also \r\nunveiled during the opening ceremony in Shanghai's downtown Xintiandi \r\ncomplex.

According to the report, 16.9 percent of the restaurants in Shanghai \r\nsell non-Chinese dishes. Among these restaurants, Western cuisines, \r\nincluding Italian, French and Spanish, account for 47.4 percent.

Organizers of the event will also be promoting time-honored brands \r\nfrom home and abroad. These brands include chili sauce maker Tabasco \r\nfrom the United States and China's Jinfeng Wine.

The festival will run till end June.