(NDAgConnection.com) – China posted its highest quarterly pork production in more than three years during January through March, data showed on Monday, reflecting a boost in breeding following a disease-led decline.

China produced 15.61 million tonnes of pork in the first three months of the year, up 14% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. It was the highest quarterly production since the final quarter of 2018, reports Reuters.

The country slaughtered 195.66 million hogs from January to March, an increase of 14.1% from the same period a year earlier.

China’s pork output reached 52.96 million tonnes last year, just below the 53.4 million tonnes produced in 2017, as production made a rapid recovery from a devastating outbreak of African swine fever that swept the country in 2018 and 2019.

The disease had wiped out about half of breeding farms by 2019. But production recovered much faster than expected, and is weighing on prices as lockdowns across China is lowering demand from restaurants.