BEIJING — The hog production in China is expected to fully recover in the first half of 2021, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Dec 15.

By the end of November, the inventory of live pigs and breeding sows has reached over 90 percent of the levels seen in normal years, said the ministry.

The breeding sows in stock monitored by the ministry expanded to over 41 million, while that of live hogs surpassed 400 million during the period.

Last month, newly-born piglets in farms with over 500 pigs in stock reached over 31 million, up 94.1 percent compared with the beginning of the year, according to the ministry.

The supply of pork in China is expected to increase 30 percent year-on-year in the upcoming New Year and Spring Festival holidays, making the overall pork price lower than that of the same period last year, said Wei Hongyang, an official with the ministry.

China has been taking measures to boost supply since the start of 2020, including releasing frozen pork reserves and increasing imports.

To cushion the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak, China has ramped up financial support such as subsidies and loans for major pork-producing counties in a bid to encourage hog production.

In October, the number of hogs available for slaughter soared 26.9 percent year-on-year, and that of the breeding sows in stock surged 31.5 percent from the same period last year.