China's imports of pork, the country's staple meat, more than doubled in the first seven months as prices of domestically produced pork soared and supply fell, according to customs statistics released on Thursday.

Pork imports in the first seven months jumped 130 percent from the same period a year ago to 30,000 tons, with a value of US$28.8 million, up 140 percent.

Meanwhile, the country's pork exports dropped 39.7 percent to 95,000 tons, worth US$180 million.

The rising imports resulted from price hikes triggered by rising production costs, the outbreak of blue-ear pig disease and farmers' reluctance to raise pigs, according to the General Administration of Customs.

All the imports in the January-July period were from the European Union, Canada and the United States, while 92.3 percent of the exports went to other Asian countries.

The retail price of pork in China soared 77.6 percent in August from the same month a year ago though it began to fall in the middle of the month, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

The sharp rise in pork prices and the ensuing hikes in other foodstuffs pushed up the consumer price index, China's key gauge of inflation, to an 11-year-high of 6.5 percent in August.

China's imports of grain, however, tumbled 54.9 percent to 1.005 million tons in the first seven months as domestic output continued to rise, prices on the international market remained high and shipping costs surged.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2007)