Surging pork prices are considered one of the driving forces of the Consumer Price Index, a main gauge of inflation. Despite a series of measures taken to cap rises, pork prices remain stubbornly high.

You could be forgiven for going a bit off color, hearing about current pork prices...

So far, average pork prices in East China's Anhui Province have jumped from last July's 19 yuan per kilogram to the current 32 yuan, a 70 percent rise.

Most residents say they cannot bear the price burden.

"I can't afford the price. It's too high."

Meanwhile, some pig dealers are also feeling the pinch, especially during the last month.

Xu Tao, Pig Dealer, said, "Waiting for days to buy pigs is common. Sometimes I have to wait for half a month."

As for the main causes of this round of pork price hikes, rising pig feed is to blame because it takes up 60-percent of the total cost of pig raising.

Liu Wen, Huajie Livestock Company, Anhui Province, said, "As a main pig feed, corn prices are rising dramatically, triggering pork prices to increase sharply."

Meanwhile, increasing salaries for staff at livestock companies also play a major role in the price hike.

"Take my company for example, the average salary for one worker used to be 13-hundred yuan, but now, it has increased to 2-thousand yuan." Liu said.

As for some pig raising enterprises, price rise expectations lead them not to sell enough pigs at the market,leading to supply being lower than demand.

The recent market situation is not welcomed by most residents. They say they just hope pork prices, the country's staple meat, will come down as soon as possible.

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