BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese authorities at all levels are fully prepared to maintain pork prices at a stable level for the New Year and Spring Festival holidays as it expects market supply to be adequate in the upcoming month, an official said Monday.
Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Yu Kangzhen told a press conference that while pork production is gradually recovering, more pork will be released from reserves into the market for the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which falls on Jan. 25, 2020.
Yu cited figures that the country's pig herd and the number of breeding sows both saw a month-on-month rise in November, the first time since April 2018, adding that the meat yield is also improving.
Yu also expected a significant increase in pork supply due to the rise of pork imports recently.
Chinese authorities have announced plans earlier this month that 40,000 tonnes of pork will be released from reserves to meet market demand during the upcoming holidays.
Affected by African swine fever and cyclical factors, prices of pork in China have been soaring this year due to short supply.
The trend has softened in the past weeks after the country rolled out multiple measures to stabilize hog production. By last Friday, the wholesale price of pork had dropped 18.15 percent from the peak level in early November, official data showed.
