PIG INSURANCE JV AGREED BY HAIAN GOVERNMENT

A PIG insurance joint venture has been agreed by the Haian government and Beijing-based China Huanong Property & Casualty Insurance Co. The government - with Haian being the first county approved by China’s east coastal Jiangsu Province to pilot the swine insurance - has agreed the deal with the insurer and will start to pilot the coverage in Jiangsu, with the aim of stimulating the livestock industry in the county. According to media reports, there were once 1.2 million pigs in Haian, one of the biggest pig-breeding counties in China, with more than 60% of the livestock being lean-meat pigs. However, despite growing demand for meat in the emerging country, the breeding of pigs in the county has fallen in recent years with the number of swine now standing at between 600,000 and 700,000.