The price of Chinese pork surged to a new high in August, prompting authorities to take the year’s first dip into national meat reserves to ensure supply for the holidays. Pork costs in China rose an average of 22.5% last month, compared with last year.
China is the world’s biggest consumer of pork, and the country’s government maintains a frozen “reserve” supply as part of a vital stabilisation policy.
Before last weekend’s mid-autumn festival and China’s forthcoming National Day on 1 October, authorities said they were releasing some reserves for the first time this year. The staple meat is the most heavily weighted item in the food basket used by economists to determine the nation’s consumer price index. In 2019, pork prices rose to a record high after an outbreak of African swine fever spread across the country.
Credit: theguardian.com
