BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- As China is stepping up efforts to boost the supply of live pigs, pork prices will fall in the next year, an expert was cited by Friday's China Daily as saying.

Zhu Zengyong, a researcher on the pork industry at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said more than 20 provinces and municipalities have introduced policies to ensure pig supplies, such as offering subsidies and easier financing to pig farms.

"Pig farming is recovering, buoyed by government policies and farmers' rising enthusiasm for breeding live pigs," Zhu told the newspaper.

"It's pretty common that the government will release frozen meat before holidays like Spring Festival, which will also help ease the tight supplies."

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that prices of pork jumped 20.1 percent month on month in October.

"I think the rise in pork prices is purely seasonal," Zhu said. "It is unlikely that pork prices will surge or dip significantly in the next few months. With the gradual recovery in hog supply, pork prices will gradually fall in the next year."

Local governments need to further deploy the policies announced by the central government, Zhu said. "More efforts are also needed to alleviate difficulties faced while accessing affordable financing for small pig farms."

While presiding over a symposium Tuesday, Premier Li Keqiang said the government will take key measures to stabilize agricultural production, drive the recovery in pig supplies, cancel unreasonable regulations prohibiting and restricting the breeding of live pigs to ensure supplies and bring down soaring prices. Enditem

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