A consumer walks past a pork booth at a market in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu province.

Sources with the Ministry of Agriculture have said that if the prices remain high, the country's consumer price index (CPI), a major indicator for inflation, will be affected. CPI reached the alarm level of three percent in April.

Food products account for 33% of CPI in China, and meat, poultry and related products, about 20%.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in April live pigs nationwide were priced 71.3% higher than a month earlier, and pork, 29.3% higher.

In Beijing, price of slaughered pigs went up more than 30% in recent days, while that of eggs rose to record high for past five years.

The wholesale price of pork in Shanghai has hit 16 yuan (2.1 U.S. dollars) per kilogram, a record high for recent 10 years, up 20 percent month-on-month.

China is planning to set up a "meat reserve" if domestic pork and poultry prices keep rising days after pork hit a record high in parts of China.

Source: CHINAdaily