(Yicai Global) Nov. 22 -- China intends to restore the nation's pig herd to about 80 percent of its normal level by the end of next year, according to an official, after stocks were devastated by African swine fever and pork prices skyrocketed.

Pig rearing will further improve in next year's first half as pork prices gradually fall, but the herd may not increase significantly until the second half, Yang Zhenhai, chief of the agriculture ministry's bureau in charge of animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, said at a press conference today.

Recovery will take time as pig reproduction has its own rules and will mostly depend on the number of sows left over in the second half, Yang said. The sow headcount is now recovering, he added.

China's pig production has entered a transitional period as supportive policies come into play, Yang said. Indicators are improving, while the imbalance between supply and demand is easing. The monthly decrease in the number of live pigs is further contracting, while the tally of sows able to reproduce is starting to bounce back and the restoration of large piggeries' output is further accelerating.

The country has the potential to produce over 3 million tons more of poultry, over 1.6 million tons more of milk, over 0.8 million additional tons of eggs and over 0.3 million tons of beef and mutton this year to offset African swine fever's impact on the pork market, Yang said.

The ministry deems the country able to ensure a supply of livestock products as an increased output of poultry, eggs, beef and mutton -- especially more poultry -- will generally ease the tight pork supply.

The ministry will work with other agencies to take measures to speed the recovery of hog production, Yang said.

They will urge local governments to speed up construction projects and fast-track subsidy payments to farms and farmers. The central government will further improve policies for hog-rearing farmland and facilities, continue to supervise and urge local governments to standardize the management of areas prohibited from breeding and permit hog-rearing in places where rules allow it.

Some 26 countries have reported 13,000 cases of ASF thus far this year, and the pandemic is also ravaging China's neighbors, Yang said. China will continue to see sporadic cases as the virus has spread across a large part of the country, he said, while outbreak risks will rise as production resumes and hog transport increases.

Editor: Ben Armour