Chinese government to regulate pig prices

New figures from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture show that wholesale pork prices increased by 1% in one week to 8,9 yuan per kilo (€34,59 per kilo). In response to the sharply increased prices 10 provinces have now decided to regulate the price and set rules regarding the sale of pork.

Maximum number of kilos
In Nanning, the capital of the southern province of Guangxi, the government has decided that consumers can only buy 1 kilo of pork per day. This pork is then sold at a price that is approximately 10% lower than the average market price over the past 10 days. To ensure compliance with this policy, it has rolled out a ticketing system.

Youxi province takes a different approach. Be in that area the prices for pork every weekend approximately 15% below the market average. In addition, consumers may not purchase more than 2 types of pork per purchase (with a maximum of 2,65 pounds). The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reported last week that it is also releasing state reserves to ensure the supply of pork and other meat.

Small impact
However, Chinese farmers expect the plans to have only a minor impact. Xiao, a farmer in Anhui province, told The Epoch Times that this plan will hardly help with the pork shortage. “Encouraging people to breed more pigs while the problem of African swine fever has not yet been resolved only hurts the industry further,” he said.

An example of this is the fact that pig farmers have to demolish their farms if African swine fever is found. "This easily costs 700.000 to 800.000 yuan (converted from €88.826 to €101.515). There is hardly any compensation."