BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- China will ramp up its financial support to secure hog production and pork supply, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Thursday.

By the end of January, China's financial institutions at all levels had allocated a total of 52.14 billion yuan (about 7.36 billion U.S. dollars) of subsidized loans for pig farmers to help them cope with capital strains, said Jiang Dayu, an official with the MOF, at a press conference.

Since last year, the country has implemented a string of policies targeted at the African swine fever, which are reversing the declining trend of hog production and safeguard ample supply, Jiang said.

In 2019, the additional expenditure to subsidize the insurance for hogs amounted to roughly 2 billion yuan, with 412 million pigs insured, he said, noting that the country compensated 7.9 million farmers with 14.4 billion yuan last year.

To soften the accumulative impact of the epidemic, the ministry will arrange 3 billion yuan to reward major pig producing counties to support their hog production and transportation, Jiang said, adding that efforts will be made to fortify disease prevention and control.

China will cut the guarantee fees for agriculture loan guarantee programs in accordance with local circumstances and halve the re-guarantee fees for provincial-level agencies. Special support will also be channeled to major enterprises in sectors such as forage, livestock and poultry and butchery to ensure the supply of key materials, Jiang said. Enditem

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