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Feed shortage leads to pig cannibalism, China’s economy deteriorates

A video showing pigs eating a dead pig on a farm in China recently went viral. Some of the pig farmers, who work for a major Chinese financial group, said the cannibalism was due to a lack of feed. One expert believes the shortage of feed is a reflection of larger problems in China’s economy.

Since July 24, the video has been one of the most searched topics on Chinese social media, putting a spotlight on the listed company and a major pig breeding company, Jiangxi Zhengbang Tech (whose subsidiary is Jiangxi Zhengbang Breeding Co.), which signed the contract farmers to breed the pigs. Posts about the company such as “Pig feed supplies to farmers have been disrupted,” “Zhengbang chairman prevented from purchasing high-end products,” “Company’s fundraising has been delayed,” and “The company’s dated Court-ordered total amount of compensation reached 100 million yuan (about 14.8 million U.S. dollars)” etc.

This caused Zhengbang Tech’s stock to fall 6.66 percent to 5.89 yuan (about $0.87) per share on July 25. The company then issued several announcements in response to the issues.

On July 25, Zhengbang Tech admitted that there were disruptions in pig feed supplies in July, citing the decline in pig prices in June, COVID-19, the company’s tight funds, logistics problems and problems in coordinating with feed manufacturers. There is no mention of compensation for pig farmers in the statement.

The company’s statements neither confirmed nor denied that pig cannibalism occurred on the farms.

Major financial problems

In addition, a “necessary reminder” was included in Zhengbang’s statement. It said, “The company’s net profit in the first half of 2022 is expected to fall 3.8-4.6 billion yuan (about 563-682 million U.S. dollars).” The statement drew on the outside world’s concerns about the “lack of funds” of the company company strengthened.

Independent current affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan told The Epoch Times on July 27 that there are two main reasons for the shortage of pig feed at Zhengbang Tech. “One of them is a lack of funds, and there may even be a break in the capital chain. The other is that the COVID-19 epidemic has caused the logistics system to be blocked, which is the problem of coordinating the logistics distribution and feed mills mentioned in the company’s official statement. Behind these two reasons, the root cause is that the economic environment in mainland China has deteriorated due to the regime’s zero-COVID policy and measures, leading to a vicious cycle of mutual causation between the above two reasons.”

“The deterioration in China’s economy is largely due to policy mistakes rather than a natural disaster. Zhengbang Tech is just one of the myriad companies paying for it,” he said.

consequences

Alex Wu is a US-based writer for The Epoch Times specializing in Chinese society, Chinese culture, human rights and international relations.

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