A resident buys pork in a supermarket in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Photo: cnsphotos

China is expected to increase pork imports this year by more than 1 million tons on a yearly basis and supplies will be guaranteed in the second half of 2020, a Chinese official said on Monday.

Tight supplies will ease by the fourth quarter, and there is no basis for a continuous price rise, said Yang Zhenhai, director of the Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

"The country's live pig inventory and piglet supply have been recovering for five consecutive months, indicating that the supply of commercial fattening pigs that will be available after July will gradually expand, and the supply situation will continue to improve," said Yang.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that pork prices rose 3.6 percent in June month-on-month following a decline in May.

Since the beginning of this year, the government has been taking measures to boost supply, including releasing frozen pork reserves and increasing imports.

To cushion the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, China has increased financial support, including subsidies and loans, to major pork-producing counties.

In the first quarter, China imported a record 951,000 tons of pork, up 274,000 tons from the previous period. Of that amount, 168,000 tons came from the US, up 6.4 times year-on-year.

China in June suspended imports from Tyson Foods, one of the largest meat producers in the US, over cluster cases of COVID-19.