Meat suppliers have been selling pigs injected with water and
diseased pork in order to take advantage of the high market price
in China, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The ministry has also discovered an increase in the number of
cases of unlicensed slaughter of pigs, prompting it to call for
tighter quality control standards of pork production.
The retail price of pork in Guangzhou reached 20 yuan per
kilogram on Tuesday, far higher than the peak of 17.4 yuan per kilo
in late May after outbreaks of blue ear disease that led to mass
culling of pigs.
In Beijing, the retail price of pork surged to 19 yuan per kilo,
the highest level in the past ten years.
Some retailers in Beijing blamed the shortage of live pigs for
recent price hikes, saying the price would continue to rise without
a greater supply.
China has been subsidizing pig breeders to maintain a supply of
pigs in a bid to curb pork prices. Earlier reports said the Chinese
government would spend 6.5 billion yuan (US$855.3 million) this
year.
(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2007)