Reuters reports, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that the countries large pig farms were lining up with small, family-based farms in a state-initiated investment of nearly 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) to boost hog productions hit hard by a deadly swine disease.

According to the agriculture ministry, fifteen leading pig farms in Beijing on Thursday signed 19 agreements with local governments in 16 Chinese cities such as Liangzhou of western Sichuan province and Engshi in central Hubei, to raise pigs together.

These projects are expected to produce more than 22 million hogs for slaughter annually and involve 33,000 poor rural families, the ministry said, without giving a timeline.

China's pig herd is about 40% smaller than a year ago, after deadly African swine fever swept through the country in the year following its discovery in mid-2018, the ministry noted.