China steps up hog sector regulation to drive price recovery

BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) has introduced measures under a newly revised hog production capacity regulation plan, aiming to steer the country's hog industry away from output expansion and toward high-quality development, the ministry announced Tuesday.

An official of the ministry said that strengthening comprehensive hog capacity controls directly affects stable pork supplies, farmers' income growth, and the prevention of financial risks in the industry.

Local authorities must strictly enforce capacity-reduction measures, facilitate a reasonable rebound in hog prices, and foster the stable and healthy development of the hog sector, the official said.

On the specifics, efforts will be made to consolidate the upward momentum in hog prices and stimulate pork consumption, while guiding producers to rationally assess market prospects and avoid speculative inventory hoarding or capacity expansion.

The official also emphasized the need for a multi-pronged approach to pursue capacity reduction, calling for strengthened market monitoring and early warning systems, and intensified efforts in hog disease prevention and control.

The revised plan, released by MARA on May 14, sets the national target for breeding sow inventory at approximately 37.5 million head, marking the second downward revision to the benchmark since February 2024.

The policy push comes as a prolonged downturn and persistent price weakness grip the hog market. The average wholesale price for pork, the country's staple meat, in national agricultural wholesale markets was 14.7 yuan (about 2.15 U.S. dollars) per kg on Tuesday, down 0.5 percent from Monday, according to MARA data.

On April 28, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee explicitly called for stabilizing prices of agricultural products, including hogs. On the same day, MARA announced the establishment of an expert advisory committee for monitoring and early warning in the hog industry. Two days later, four ministry-level authorities announced that they would coordinate efforts for the commercial frozen pork reserve procurement.