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It is the year of the pig on the side of China, but it could just as easily become the year of the challenge, given the inflation of the price of pork. With African swine fever and Sino-US trade war, prices soar: more than 40% in one year. Which provokes the grumbling in front of the stalls and on the social networks.
With our correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde
Here, it is consumers who literally snatch pork from both hands at the supermarket's stall; she is an employee asking for an increase. For what reason ?, asks his boss. Because I like to eat pork, explains the employee, and that the price of the kilogram has increased. Version resignation, it gives: " Mom, I left my company to start pig breeding at home. "
These sometimes parodic videos flood Chinese social networks, like Tik Tok or WeChat (see here or there ). Behind the humor lies anger, in the face of soaring prices for meat, but also ravioli, steamed donuts or caramel pork; 88 yuan per kilogram in Beijing, write Beijing News . The pig has a good back: vegetables are also affected by inflation, complain users.
And when the pork industry cries, the poultry sector smiles. But not necessarily in the sense of the consumer. Pork farms were decimated by the swine fever virus , and the trade war with the United States led to higher taxes (+ 62%) on US imports. As a result, the demand for chicken is increasing. Ditto for the duck so much appreciated by Pekingese gourmets, lacquered or not. The price of the palmid could thus climb in its turn.
► To read also: The pig in the spotlight this year in China for the Lunar New Year