FILE PHOTO: Pigs are seen on the back of a truck outside a slaughterhouse in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China December 22, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
BEIJING (Reuters) – China plans to divide its hog industry into five key geographic regions under a wide-ranging plan aimed at protecting pork supplies as African swine fever continues to spread across the world’s top pork producer.
The plan is outlined in a document reviewed by Reuters which was drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and sent to provincial governments and municipalities for their feedback last week.
The plan will encourage the trade of pigs and pig products within the regions, reducing the impact of earlier measures that distorted prices and the market.
It is not clear if the plan has already been approved. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs did not immediately respond to a fax with questions on the document.
In a separate document, Beijing also said it is targeting fewer outbreaks of the disease in the first half of 2019 than in the second half of last year.
China has reported more than 100 outbreaks of deadly African swine fever in 28 provinces and regions since last August.
Reporting by Dominique Patton and Hallie Gu; editing by Christian Schmollinger