China’s pork prices have plummeted in the latter half of this year, sparking concerns of a connection to the influx of diseased pigs into the market. Recently, a food processing company in Luoding, Guangdong was caught on camera stacking a large number of dead pigs, with officials emphasizing that they did not enter the market, but netizens expressed doubt.
According to a report by mainland media “Tide News” on October 27, a video shared by netizens showed a large number of dead pigs piled up outside the entrance of “Guangdong Yueguang Meat-Union Food Co., Ltd.,” with the piles extending into the company’s premises; on the other side, a small transport truck was also filled with dead pigs. Netizens claimed this was “dead pigs brought back for processing.”
The report revealed that a search on “Tianyancha” did not find any registered enterprise under the name of “Guangdong Yueguang Meat-Union Food Co., Ltd.,” only locating a company with a similar name registered in the jurisdiction of SuLong Street, Luoding City. Its business scope includes wholesale and retail of frozen foods, agricultural products, processing and acquisition of frozen livestock and poultry meat, agricultural products, processing and sale of meat products, but does not involve pig farming or disposal of diseased pigs.
On that day, the Luoding City Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, SuLong Street Office, confirmed to mainland media that the issue of dead pigs being piled up at “Guangdong Yueguang Meat-Union Food Co., Ltd.” as reflected in the circulated video did indeed occur within the jurisdiction of SuLong Street, Luoding City.
Officials from the Luoding City Market Supervision and Administration Bureau stated that the disposal of diseased pigs falls under their jurisdiction in the sales process, but they have not received any reports.
Staff from the Luoding City Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Veterinary and Slaughter Management Division claimed that the batch of pigs had been disposed of on the 26th and did not flow into the market, with the source being traced. However, when asked about the investigation results, the staff mentioned that it depends on the law enforcement department, currently under “multi-department joint law enforcement.”
Mainland netizens have expressed doubts about the official response: “Relying on netizens for exposure, where is the regulatory department?” “Checking with one hand and another, can the truth be revealed? Even ghosts won’t believe it.” “How many diseased and dead pigs have flowed into the market before?” “Those working there are also working hard, why make it difficult for them?” “If it hasn’t entered the market, will they freeze it for consumption next year?” “Processed pork sold as snacks will be more expensive.” The article continues with various other comments questioning the situation and advising consumers to be cautious.
Since the second half of this year, pork prices in China have continued to decline, reaching a near four-year low.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the Communist Party of China, as of October 21, the national average wholesale price of pork in agricultural product wholesale markets was 17.70 yuan/kg (about 8.85 yuan/jin), with the average wholesale price falling for ten consecutive weeks.
An employee from a chain supermarket in Tongzhou District, Beijing, told mainland media that the cheapest discounted price for pork in their supermarket had reached 7 yuan/jin, hitting the lowest record of this year.
Mr. Ren, a pig farmer from Hebei, revealed to Dajiyuan on October 23 that the purchase price of “standard pigs” (pigs with standard market weight) in the industry had dropped to over 5 yuan/jin in October, hitting a low in nearly four years.
Meanwhile, apart from African Swine Fever, another type of disease threat has caused panic in the market. In September, videos on Douyin circulated that pig farms in Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Henan, and Sichuan detected the Geta virus, causing severe diarrhea and a survival rate of less than 20% for piglets. Some breeders mentioned that “some pig farms in Jiangxi had a high positive rate of 95.65%.”
Ms. Yan, a pork vendor in Guangzhou, previously mentioned to Dajiyuan this month that the price of pork infected with the Geta virus is very cheap, with pork in some places in Hebei selling for 2 yuan/jin. “Who would do business at a loss these days? I wouldn’t dare to eat pork selling for two yuan per jin!” she expressed, raising concerns about uninformed elderly people buying such pork. In the shadow of the disease risk, consumers should be cautious of cheap pork.
[End of translation]