Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua addressed a national teleconference on precautions against African swine fever on Dec 11 in Beijing.

Further efforts should be made to beef up prevention and control of swine fever, with each countermeasure coming into full play, he said.

Meanwhile, a long-term prevention and control mechanism should be established, upholding benign development of the hog industry and a stable pork market supply.

Against the backdrop of a grave epidemic, he added, departments concerned should unswervingly carry out related countermeasures across the board, step up routine screening and supervision, tackle the epidemic in compliance with stringent standards and crack down on all related lawless behavior.

An improved prevention and control system should come into play along with all-around partitioned prevention and control, strengthened classification guidance and an improved mechanism of overall regional planning, coordination and supervision in this regard, Hu said.

As far as the hog industry is concerned, improvements should be made in the process of production, circulation and slaughter of hogs in a bid to meet the requirements for long-term prevention and control of animal epidemics.

Additionally, departments and institutions concerned should endeavor to boost scientific research related to animal epidemic prevention and stay strictly on guard against the incoming swine fever.

Joint efforts should be made to step up prevention and control of African swine fever, while skills of grassroots veterinary staff should be upgraded.

Stable pork supplies, Hu added, should be safeguarded as well along the way.