China's pork prices continue to retreat

BEIJING -- Soaring pork prices in China continued to soften last week as the country rolled out multiple measures to stabilize hog production.

From Nov 25 to 29, the average pork price index in 16 provincial-level regions tracked by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs came in at 40.95 yuan (about $5.8) per kg, down 3.5 percent week on week.

This is the third consecutive week that the pork price index has retreated since the beginning of November.

The price retreat came as the Chinese government has been taking multi-pronged measures to boost supply, including increasing subsidies to restore hog production, releasing frozen pork reserves and expanding pork imports.

The ministry urged related departments to put great emphasis on restoring hog production and take various measures to ensure pork supply and stabilize pork prices for the coming New Year and Spring Festival holidays.

Prices of pork, a staple meat in China, have been soaring in recent months, mainly affected by African swine fever and cyclical factors.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.8 percent year-on-year last month, mainly driven by soaring pork prices, which rose 101.3 percent year on year in October, contributing nearly two-thirds of the CPI growth.