China to step up supervision of hog futures market to tame pork price hikes

BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- China will strengthen its supervision over the country's hog spot and futures markets in a bid to rein in pork price hikes, the country's top economic planner said on Tuesday.

Joint efforts will be made to promptly detect abnormal transactions and enhance penetrative supervision, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement after a meeting with the Dalian Commodity Exchange, where hog futures are traded.

The two sides will work together to crack down on illegal activities such as the fabrication and spreading of information about price rises, hoarding for profit, price gouging, and malicious speculation, the statement said.

The price of pork, a staple meat in China, has been rising in recent weeks. From June 20 to 24, the average pork price tracked by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs increased 5.4 percent week on week, rising 31.6 percent from a year ago.

China has been stepping up efforts to ensure the market supply of pork and stabilize prices. The world's largest pork producer and consumer is considering releasing pork from its central reserves and guiding local pork reserve releases.