Meat suppliers have been selling pigs injected with water and diseased pork in order to take advantage of the high market price in China, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry has also discovered an increase in the number of cases of unlicensed slaughter of pigs, prompting it to call for tighter quality control standards of pork production.

The retail price of pork in Guangzhou reached 20 yuan per kilogram on Tuesday, far higher than the peak of 17.4 yuan per kilo in late May after outbreaks of blue ear disease that led to mass culling of pigs.

In Beijing, the retail price of pork surged to 19 yuan per kilo, the highest level in the past ten years.

Some retailers in Beijing blamed the shortage of live pigs for recent price hikes, saying the price would continue to rise without a greater supply.

China has been subsidizing pig breeders to maintain a supply of pigs in a bid to curb pork prices. Earlier reports said the Chinese government would spend 6.5 billion yuan (US$855.3 million) this year.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2007)