More than 1,000 real estate developers in China have invested in pig farms over the past year to cash in on rising pork prices, according to mainland media reports.

The trend was originally noted by Liu Yonghao, the founder and chairperson of China’s largest animal feed producer, New Hope, during a forum in November. Since then, however, many observers have joined in a public discussion of this new direction for developers.

Developers felt pressured to diversify last year, amid the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 and a slow property market, observers said. Many developers have chosen to establish new pig farms on their land holdings.

Pig farming has become increasingly lucrative due to an increase in pork prices beginning in 2018, when the supply of domestic pork saw a sharp drop related to African swine fever, observers.

But such moves have raised concerns among traditional pig breeders. They suspect that the developers’ real intent is to acquire more land at low prices rather than to truly invest in the pig industry, mainland news reports said.

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