When Pan Yongjie started in the pig industry 25 years ago, his classmates felt sorry for him because the job was considered too lowly for a college graduate. Now, as the head of pig-raising for 15 large farms near the sleepy outpost of Jiashan, outside Beijing, his fortunes have changed thanks to the second surge in prices in recent years.

“When pig prices were high in 2008, I had friends in the real estate industry or mining industry who started investing in pig raising,” says Mr Pan. “Their businesses collapsed after two or three years because they didn’t understand the technique ... If prices continue to rise, the investment rush could happen again.”

In the past year, pork prices in China have rocketed 57 per cent, and are again helping to drive Chinese inflation, which hit a three-year high in June. For economists bringing the price of China’s pork under control represents one of the keys to bringing Chinese inflation under control.