China's cabinet issues guidelines on African swine fever control

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will promote large-scale pig farming and reduce the number of small pig farms, the country's cabinet said on Wednesday in guidelines on African swine fever prevention and control.

The government will provide production subsidies to large-scale pig farms in areas heavily affected by the disease, China's State Council said in a statement on its website.

China has reported more than 120 outbreaks of the deadly disease in all of its mainland provinces and regions, as well as on Hainan island and Hong Kong, since it was first detected in the country in early August last year. [nS7N23Q01E]

(Reporting by Hallie Gu and Tom Daly; Editing by Tom Hogue)