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The price of pork in China has experienced a continuous increase of 34.9 percent cumulatively during the past five weeks while the soaring prices of vegetables stabilized amid the government's immediate measures to increase food supply.

From November 8 to 14, the weekly price of wholesale pork saw a five-week rise, reaching 24.02 yuan ($3.76) per kilogram, a month-on-month increase of 3.8 percent, and the national average purchase price of pork for designated slaughtering enterprises stood at 18.08 yuan per kilogram, up 4 percent compared with the same period of October, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MOA) on Friday.

A seller from a Beijing supermarket surnamed Wang told the Global Times on Sunday that since November, more customers have come to buy pork for the ongoing cold weather. However, pork supply may not meet the increasing demand in the short term leading to a surge on prices.

"Compared with the skyrocketing price of vegetables, pork has not seen a significant rise, with 4 to 6 yuan more per kilogram," Wang added.

A Beijing customer surnamed Yan told the Global Times that with the coming winter, many families in northern China would make pork meatballs and store minced pork for dumplings, which may cause the increase in demand for pork.

"The rise of pork prices showed China's boost in consumption with consumers' solid spending power," Wang Zuli, deputy researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

However, the data from the ministry show that although the price of pork saw a cumulative increase of 34.9 percent for five weeks, it declined 39 percent compared with the same period of 2020.

Wang said that because of the sharp fall of pork prices in the first half of 2021, pig farmers faced continuous losses with increasing prices of feed which accelerated the slaughter of pigs and led to a temporary shortage of supply in the second half of this year.

China's pork prices will remain stable as the pork supply increases in November and December, Wang noted.

"China's general vegetable supply is secured and can provide 1.5 kilograms for each person per day," said Zhao Zhuo, an official from the MOA, as production of multiple meat products and fruits have both increased, the China Media Group reported on Sunday.