A woman browses through the fresh meat section at a supermarket in Beijing on Friday. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said pork prices in the second week of March have declined for seven consecutive weeks. Photo: cnsphoto

The output of pork in China is to hit 50 million tons in 2021, up 20 percent from 2020 and the pork prices will continue to drop as a result, said a research report published by the Rural Development Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Thursday.

The accumulation of experience in dealing with African swine fever in recent years and the coronavirus prevention measures will prop up hog production on a speedy growth path this year, said the report.

In 2020 China's total meat supply and consumption grew moderately, despite the pandemic. 

The total meat supply exceeded 87 million tons in 2020, an increase of more than 3.5 percent from 2019 -- mainly driven by rising import of pork and beef , of which the pork imports hit 5.73 million tons last year registering an increase of 79.1percent.

It is expected that total meat supply will further increase by 10 million tons to reach 95 million tons in 2021, said Li Guoxiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The import of meat is likely to increase to exceed 10 million tons this year, Li added.

The national wholesale pork prices dropped to 32.33 yuan  per kilogram in April, down from 46.71 yuan recorded in January, marking a continuous decline over four months, data from Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs showed.

Driven by the steep increase in market supply, pork price is likely to dip throughout 2021 though with some fluctuations, Li said.