The Ministry of Commerce said yesterday it will ensure the supply of pork to Hong Kong despite rising prices.

The Chinese mainland last month supplied more than 4,000 pigs daily to the Hong Kong market, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The Ministry of Commerce is encouraging neighbouring Guangdong Province to increase its supply to Hong Kong.

The ministry is also working closely with other government bodies to ensure the quality of pigs for the Hong Kong market, ministry spokesman Wang Xinping told a press conference.

China has a national reserve of pigs and pork to stem the rapid rise in prices, but has not started to use it yet, Wang said.

"The use of reserves will be decided by the market. Related government bodies will coordinate and come to a decision in case of an emergency," he said.

The average wholesale price of pork in 36 major cities in China has risen 8.6 percent from last month, to 14.5 yuan ($1.88) per kg today. It has increased 43.1 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The price hike is due to an increase in the price of feed, and fewer pigs raised by farmers following a fall in pork prices in the past two years.

An outbreak of blue ear disease, also known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), is also a cause of the short supply, Xinhua quoted Xu Lianzhong, a senior economist with the price supervision centre under the National Development and Reform Commission, as saying.

The General Office of the State Council has urged local governments at all levels to ensure adequate pork supplies.

The Ministry of Commerce will strengthen the supervision of prices and supplies, Wang said.

It will try to release timely market information, he said.

The Ministry of Communications has also issued an urgent notice calling transportation departments to give priority to the delivery of pork and live pigs.

The authorities will launch an emergency plan if necessary and the toll for vehicles carrying pork or live pigs will be reduced, according to the notice.

Hu Xin, deputy general manager of the China Merchandise Reserve Management Center, a State-owned enterprise responsible for national pork reserves, said earlier that "the national herd of pigs and frozen pork is enough to meet the needs of the Ministry of Commerce in control measures."

(China Daily 05/31/2007 page3)