scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeGlobal PulseRising pork prices may dampen China's 70th anniversary celebrations

Rising pork prices may dampen China’s 70th anniversary celebrations

Millions of hogs were killed due to the African Swine Flu in the past year leading to an increase in pork prices.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

New Delhi: Beijing is all set to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China but rising pork prices might dampen some of its festivities. Pork is a key component of a Chinese family dinner and the price of the protein has nearly doubled after the African Swine Fever

In an attempt to quell the price hike, the state has released nearly 30,000 tones of pork over the past fortnight. However, according to analysts, the move is unlikely to resolve the crisis across the country.

The political value of pork 

Pork accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the China’s meat production and most families prefer pork to chicken or beef.

The founder’s day week marks the holiday season in China and this is when families make elaborate meals, with pork as a major ingredient.

“My family doesn’t like beef, it’s a heating food, so I can only buy pork,” a Chinese consumer told Reuters.

African-swine flu spread through China in the past year and killed millions of hogs. As a result, the Chinese staple meat is in very short-supply and has become unaffordable for the average consumer.

China accounts for the world’s largest pig herd – or about half of the world’s total.

“Many of them – about 40% – are raised in small farms with weak hygiene standards. There are still relatively few integrated producers, with most farmers relying on other people in a long supply chain to get their pigs to slaughter, often far away from their farms,” notes a report in Reuters.

Thus, it was not only hard to contain the flu from spreading but also difficult to arrange alternate sources of pork.

The government recognises the scale of the crisis.

Hu Chunhua, Vice Premier and member of the politburo, said during a televised address in August that increasing pork-production constituted a “major political task”. He urged officials to guarantee supplies, as pork is the “most basic requirement” for the welfare of the Chinese people.

What has the government done? 

As the government is all set to hold extravagant celebrations for the country’s 70th anniversary, it wants to ensure that high pork prices don’t spoil the festivities.

Beijing released over 30,000 tons of pork from the state reserves. It did so in three batches over the past fortnight.

The idea is to supplant fresh pork by frozen pork, and allow people to consume their staple meat over the holiday season.

Limited success of government intervention 

 According to reports, the government effort has ensured that it is being sold at a much lower rate in Beijing.

“Today we have very cheap frozen pork belly, it’s only 17.98 yuan (per kg, or $2.52 per pound) compared with 35.98 yuan for fresh. We’re not sure where the meat is from but it must be from Beijing’s reserves,” a butcher from Beijing told Reuters.

Unfortunately for the Beijing government, the prices have not gone down uniformly across the country.

According to an analyst at Euromonitor, Miranda Zhou, the increased supplies are just “a drop in the ocean” and they would have limited impact on the overall prices across China.

There also seems to be a very strong aversion to frozen meat. Most Chinese have complained that they only consume fresh meat, and even if frozen pork was available, they wouldn’t buy it.

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular