October 3, 2020

China wants to become 95% self-sufficient in pork

China wants to reduce its dependency on pork imports and has set an ambitious goal to become almost self-sufficient in the staple.

China has targeted 95% self-sufficiency in pork, based on a State Council document on developing the livestock industry, Bloomberg reports.

According to the plan, 70% of all hog farms in the country should be large-scale by 2025 and 85% by 2030.

At present hog inventories are on the rise, with authorities hoping that the country's pig herd will return to pre-African swine fever levels by December. Herds were also reported to have risen for a seventh straight month in August.

Moreover, more than 11,000 new large-scale farms have become operational, according to the agriculture ministry, the report said.

The ASF virus, which was first detected in China in August 2018, wiped out more than one third of the country's hog population as of December last year.

China's pig meat imports in the first half of this year totalled 2,074,128 tonnes, which exceeded that for the full year of 2019.