Rising Cost of Living: China's Pork Price Soar

China’s Pork Price Soar
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China’s Pork Price Soar
Chinese people are facing two primary problems, namely the China-United States of America (USA) trade tension and the rising cost of living due to the African swine fever outbreak. In particular, the grocery bills are increasing, which makes it difficult for people in the country to maintain their lifestyles. Chinese leaders are not sleeping well at night as they try to figure out how they can address the existing issues once and for all. Some of these problems are retarding economic growth, African swine fever epidemic, and the trading tension with the American government. The number of hogs in China is plummeting at an alarming rate, which is rapidly becoming a nationwide crisis. For this reason, as pigs continue to be culled to control the African swine fever, the prices of pork continue to increase, which makes it unaffordable for many people.
The prices of pork in China has been increasing for several months, and there is no sign of reversing the trend as the year comes to an end. Specifically, the new prices are now 50% higher than what Chinese people used to buy before the outbreak. Consumers of pork are frustrated since it appears like the government is making false promises and that it does not have a solution to the existing problem. Li Keqiang, a Chinese premier, has suggested declaring the issue as “an attitude of urgency” so that the state can focus on how to get a sustainable solution quickly (Stevenson & Zhong, 2019). Although three local governments are tapping the nation’s pork reserves to make sure that consumers are getting pork, people are not getting enough of it, particularly because it is their primary staple food.
The increase in the cost of living in China is partially caused by the trade tension between the country and the USA. Last year, the Trump administration increased the importation duties for all Chinese products. The commodities that were significantly affected by this increment in tariffs are livestock feeds and agricultural goods. The Chinese government raised its taxes on various American products such as crude oil, pork, seafood, and soybeans. In other terms, China cannot get these products from the USA to ensure that the supply in the market is uninterrupted. In 2018, food prices in the country increased by 10% (Stevenson & Zhong, 2019). Instead of the trend reversing this year, things are becoming unbearable in China. The figures for the consumer price inflation depicted shoppers’ frustrations. If the current situation is not addressed, the number of individuals who cannot afford pork will rise tremendously. On that note, it is the high time for the Chinese government to stop denying facts and take respective measures to curb African swine fever and the trade war. Victor Shih, a Chinese economist and associate professor at California University, affirmed that the more the state proceeds to deny the tra...