China to release 40,000 tonnes of pork reserves

BEIJING -- Chinese authorities announced plans Thursday to release more frozen pork from its central reserves to ensure market supply for the upcoming holidays.

Gao Feng, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), told a news conference that 40,000 tonnes of pork will be released from reserves to brace for a spike in demand during the upcoming New Year and Spring Festival holidays.

The country will also step up efforts to improve the linkage between pork production and sales to keep the pork price stable.

Gao said the MOC will continue to monitor price curves and supply-demand dynamics of the pork market and prepare for future releases to shore up meat supply.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 4.5 percent year on year in November, mainly driven by surging pork prices, which rose 101.3 percent year on year last month, contributing nearly two-thirds of the CPI growth.

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