China vows efforts to further restore hog production

Two surviving pigs in a pigpen in a village of Henan Province, China, January 13, 2020. /Reuters

Construction of pig farms and rapid restocking will ease tight pork supply from the fourth quarter of 2020, an official with China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Monday.

The country aims to bring hog-production capacity back to normal levels this year with the help of supportive financing, as well as environmental and land-use policies, the ministry said in an online statement released after a meeting on agricultural work for the second half of this year.

Since last year, China has implemented a string of policies to encourage hog production and stabilize pork prices, which had been affected by African swine fever and other factors.

Sow stocks last September had fallen by 39 percent from a year earlier, ministry data showed. However, stocks of productive sows have increased by 28.6 percent compared with the level in September 2019, said Yang Zhenhai, director of the animal husbandry and veterinary bureau under the ministry, at the media briefing.

Nationwide, live hog stocks are up 20.9 percent from January, he said.

(With input from agencies)