BEIJING – China plans to release more pork reserves to ensure an adequate supply during the country’s upcoming New Year and Lunar New Year holidays according to  state-owned Xinhuanet.com.  

The report said the Ministry of Commerce plans to release 40,000 metric tons of pork from central reserves. Reuters cited a report by CCTV that said 100,000 metric tons of pork have been taken from the reserves since mid-December.

China has dealt with African Swine Fever (ASF) in its hog population since August 2018. It is estimated that as much as half of China’s 700 million hogs have died or were culled because of ASF. Official estimates from China are much lower at 20 to 30 percent. 

An analysis by Rabobank showed that it could take China until 2025 to recover from the disease.

Recent data by the General Administration of Customs in China showed pork imports for the first 11 months of 2019 were at 1.733 million tons, up 58 percent from 2018.