The Ministry of Commerce said today that business for high-end caterers in Beijing has plunged 35 per cent since Xi's order two months ago.
Xi, who took power in November as Communist Party general secretary, ordered the elimination of banquets and other pomp that has alienated a public that is struggling with high living costs.
During last week's Lunar New Year holiday, sales of shark fin soup at Beijing hotels plunged 70 per cent, the ministry said. Sales of abalone and bird's nest soup fell 40 per cent.
At a December meeting of the all-powerful Politburo, Xi ordered that arrangements for leaders' visits and the trappings of power be drastically pared back. Under the orders, elaborate welcoming ceremonies are to be eliminated, traffic disruptions avoided, and staid, often worthless reporting on the doings of the leadership dispensed with.
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He later called for people to be more frugal and avoid excess following a "Clear the Plate" campaign by netizens calling on restaurants to cut down food waste.
His words sparked an anti-food waste campaign in state media and an order by the country's TV watchdog that all radio and television channels cut advertising promoting the culture of giving luxury watches, rare stamps and gold coins a practice often associated with corruption.
The anti-waste campaign also extends to the military. The Chinese People's Liberation Army issued an order this week that leftovers be better used, the official Xinhua News Agency said today.
The report cited the new measures as saying unfinished rice and other dishes should be re-cooked into fried rice with eggs, while leftover vegetables be pickled or made into appetizers.
The measures also forbid the ordering of luxury dishes at military receptions and ban hotels run by the army from imposing minimum spending requirements for their events, Xinhua said.