China is requesting a reduction in pork production as meat prices fell by 14.6% in December 2025.
To address oversupply and weakening demand, China's Ministry of Agriculture is urging producers to adhere to 2025 quotas and tighten control over herd sizes.
China has urged domestic pork producers to proactively cut production and curb expansion plans. This move comes as the world's largest pork producer faces a severe oversupply and weakening consumer demand.
Strictly control production quotas in 2025.
According to financial news agency CLS, at its latest meeting with livestock producers, China's Ministry of Agriculture urged businesses to strictly adhere to production quotas set for 2025. Simultaneously, the regulatory body is also implementing a new registration system to strengthen market control and regulation efforts.
This appeal comes as China's massive pork industry faces double pressures. The decline in demand is believed to be a consequence of sluggish economic growth coupled with a shift in local consumer preferences.
Pressure from oversupply
Market data shows that pork prices in China in December 2025 fell by 14.6% compared to the same period in 2024. This is the latest decline after years of continuously falling prices. Despite previous regulatory efforts, actual production remains very high.
Specifically, in the past year, China slaughtered a total of 720 million pigs. In the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, the country produced 15.7 million tons of pork, recording its highest quarterly output since 2018. This oversupply, coupled with insufficient demand, has directly driven down prices, putting significant pressure on the profit margins of the entire livestock industry.
