The Chinese government is looking to battle back against the effects of African Swine Fever.
The government has mandated a boost in domestic pork production to shore up supplies and stabilize prices that have been hit hard by the disease.
China has lost 13 million tons of pork, which is equal to the entire yearly production level of the U.S.
That loss is pushing Chinese officials to go forward with domestic actions, which will help 13 cities in the nation’s top pork-producing province produce 34 million pigs this year.
City governments will subsidize pig farms and require banks to make credit and favorable insurance policies available to pig farmers and pork processors.
China will earmark a total of $111.6 million from the provincial budget for the effort.
U.S. pork producers are hopeful that a new trade deal with China would get rid of the giant 62 percent tariff that the National Pork Producers Council estimates have caused its producers to miss out on $1 billion in sales.