China releases 10,000 tons of pork from reserves to increase meat supply

BEIJING - Chinese authorities on Thursday released 10,000 metric tons of pork from its central reserves to increase pork supply in the market and ensure meat supply for the upcoming National Day holiday.

A total of 2,400 tons of reserve beef and 1,900 tons of reserve mutton have been released into the market at the beginning of September, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in an online statement.

China is capable of guaranteeing its meat supply with a sharp increase in meat imports and a relatively high level of frozen meat inventory, the ministry said.

It also said China's pork prices posted slower growth recently. The average wholesale pork prices on Sept 18 rose by 1.3 percent from that on Sept 10, with the daily growth rate of 0.8 percentage points lower than that registered in late August.

China will continue to pay close attention to the demand and supply in the pork market and changes of pork prices, enhance connections between pork production and sales and strengthen forecasts and alerts related to the pork market, the MOC said.

The ministry and other government agencies will continue to release pork from central reserves as appropriate to guarantee supply of pork in the market.