Reuters reports that Wens Foodstuffs has dozens of pig farms under construction and aims to treble output over the next four years.

Like other major producers, Wens is pouring billions of yuan into new pig farms, aiming to seize market share as the sector rebuilds after African swine fever wiped out about 60 percent of the country's hog herd last year.

The new farms were completed despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which peaked in China early this year, slowing construction in many regions as workers stayed at home to prevent the spread of the virus, Wen Pengcheng said in an emailed response to questions from Reuters.

Wen, who is also a delegate to China's parliament, which held its annual gathering in Beijing this week, said the company wants to raise 56 million hogs by 2024.

Wens was hit hard by African swine fever, a deadly pig disease for which there is no cure and no vaccine.

Its hog sales fell 17 percent in 2019 to 18.5 million animals, and plunged 62 percent in the first quarter of this year, after it bred fewer piglets in the second half of 2019, according to company filings.

The recently completed farms will produce 1.2 million pigs a year, and another 79 projects with capacity to produce 7.75 million pigs and 260 million chickens a year are under construction, Wen said.

African swine fever is still the biggest challenge for the recovery of the country's hog production, he added.

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