Chinese student farms pigs for inflation profits

Wang Chao has discovered he can make more from farming than if he had graduated from university

Wang Chao, a 22-year-old who lives in Jingyang near Xi’an, gave up his college place, normally the dearest ambition of Chinese families, hoping to profit from a surge in inflation that is frightening politicians worldwide.

Big price rises in staple foods – and, above all, pork, the nation’s favourite meat – mean that the once-poor rural economy is in some cases outstripping that of the educated urban elite.

"I can sell one pig for 1,200 yuan or even 1,300 [more than £80]," he said.

"The people I knew who graduated from my course were earning 1,500 a month."

China’s rising inflation is a symptom, with the credit crisis in world banking markets, of what economists fear might be the end of a financial "golden era".

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