Premier Li Keqiang’s snack stop highlights impact swine fever has taken on Chinese pork supplies
- Li’s visit to a roadside food vendor during a visit to Xian highlights country’s ongoing drive to secure supplies of the staple meat
- Consumers have faced rising prices and shortages after disease wiped out more than 40 per cent of domestic pig herds
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited a roadside food stall on Monday to discuss the impact of rising pork prices, highlighting the country’s ongoing struggle to secure supplies of the staple meat after African swine fever devastated domestic herds.
Consumers have faced record prices after the disease swept across the country and policymakers have been scrambling to boost imports and rebuild domestic stocks in its wake.
Official state news agency Xinhua reported that Li visited the store on a visit to the northwestern city of Xian and asked the owner about rising prices and how it had affected business.
According to the report, the owner replied that the increase was “quite noticeable”, adding: “Our prices have also risen a bit accordingly. The effect on business hasn’t been too big.”
China’s pig population in September was 41.1 per cent smaller than it was a year earlier, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released on Monday.